by Nathan Ward
“Please, stop!” she screamed as she began to struggle once more, and again, the men who restrained her gripped tighter.
“Shh, stop worrying, we aren’t going to kill you…. Drop her…” said the leader.
The three men released her, the woman fell flat on the ground, her arm twisted behind her back, crunching as it bent sharply against her back.
The three men pulled out their knives and began to hack away at the woman’s legs, removing the fat and muscle, slicing along her arteries. The women let out a shriek of pain, it was sharp, all consuming pain horrific pain that allowed her the strength to cry out once and then no more.
The man with the half hidden face climbed across her body and looked intently at her.
“I said not to scream, why don’t you ever fucking listen?”
Then he raised his hand and thumped his fist into her throat, she began to choke and cough up blood that made ugly splash marks across the ground on the freshly fallen snow, the perfect colour contrast.
Chapter 7 – Of Blood and Snow
Josh and Austin heard the terrible shriek that had carried from the forest, and they jumped up, ran over to the centre of the camp to lock and load their automatic rifles obtained from the UNA factory.
“Lance, Rob and Dez, with us! Rest of group, stay put but keep on high alert… stick together!” said Josh as he felt that familiar sense of once again facing hostility.
Austin grabbed him by the shoulder.
“I think I should stay here, keep a watch.”
Josh nodded.
“You do that, if we’re not back in ten minutes you leave this area, get everyone to safety!”
Then Josh and three marksmen scattered in to the forest in the direction of the screaming.
Keeping a stern eye down the sight of his weapon, Josh rapidly yet cautiously moved in closer then took up a position behind a tree, the three other group members held a line behind him. Then he looked down his sights, scanning the snowy woodland for the source of the screaming.
Suddenly Josh was bombarded with gun fire, bullets penetrating the tree, muzzle flashes exploding like fireworks from across the tree line. One of the freedom fighters were struck down by a flurry of bullets, he fell on to his back, body full of holes and blood ran crimson, staining virgin snow.
Josh fired back in to the haze of smoke from the gunfire, the muzzle flashed and then as they got closer, he fell back with the other two fighters, looking back trying to identify the opposition.
They jumped down in to a pit hole, raising their weapons on to the rim aimed in the direction of the enemy, but then the gunfire stopped, and for a moment there was silence.
“Identify yourselves! Are you the UNA?” Yelled Josh, and his voice cut loudly through the silence as it echoed about the quiet woodland.
Then the sound of laughter began to echo from straight ahead, and Josh could make out the figures of four men in the shadow of trees no further than twenty meters ahead.
“We’re what the UNA like to call the rebellion,” a voice came back at him, “ You see, we weren’t stupid… We could always see beyond their lies…” the rebellion leader paused then added, “We’re not so different, we call our selves the freedom fighters, we fight for what’s rightfully ours… the UNA killed our families, its about time we got our revenge…. What do you know of the UNA?”
An awkward silence cut between the two forces, then Josh looked up, scanning the area. A bullet flew over his head, before multiple bullets penetrated the trees ahead sending splinters of tree bark scattering over the otherwise perfect blanket of white snow, and then non stop gunfire started shredding everything rapidly stopping the rebellion troops dead in their tracks, their bodies mate on the ground - just as Josh had managed to identify the oncoming horde…the UNA.
Josh turned to the other two fighters.
“It’s the UNA, they’ve found us!”
“What do we do?” asked one of the men who fought beside him.
Josh was already ahead of the game.
“I want you both to return to camp, tell Austin we have a code red situation, get the group moving south west, if he asks what's happening just say, it’s the UNA, now go, both of you, move it!”
The two fighters jumped to their feet and ran back in the direction of the camp.
Josh took a quick look at the oncoming UNA Squad… he identified ten soldiers with incinerators and rifles. The UNA begin to unleash their flames on the forest, lighting up the evening sky with black smoke and a fiery red glow, they continue to march forward.
Josh got to his feet without hesitation, he climbed from the pit hole and put his hands above his head, and then he walked on, towards the oncoming UNA soldiers.
“I surrender, now come on… do your worst!”
The ten soldiers circled Josh aiming their weapons at his head, Josh dropped his gun on to the ground, and the soldiers lowered their weapons.
A squad leader with an orange badge on his chest stepped forward, and with a rather metallic robotic voice, he began to speak:
“The UNA welcome you home… you are safe now.”
The soldiers then grabbed Josh and escorted him away, and he offered no resistance as he thought on all that had happened , turning it over as shock seemed to turn his body mildly numb. Then he was loaded into a UNA vehicle and it drove away.
As the vehicles left the area, the white robotic drone hovered in to the forest, scanning the area and moving at a fast pace, its dome like head turned and its camera switched to thermal mode.
Then the drone stopped, its dome rotated again as it spotted a heat signature - a vast group moving away, the freedom fighters... The droid continued to hover over the ground, watching, analysing their every move.
Echoes of foot fall pattered out of a long corridor, the lighting flickering on and off, the bulbs stuttering in a nightmarish way.
Graham moved out of the darkness into the light, his face full of fear and exhaustion, he fell to his knees catching a breath, arching his back over like a man would in prayer.
A large electronic door lifted up near by and the corridor was flooded with UNA soldiers, armed and dressed in their white armour, Graham lifted his head and looked over, wondering what the hell was happening now.
To his surprise, he saw Josh escorted inside, but as the soldiers directed him onwards, they were interrupted by a harsh high pitched alarm, and the walls began to glow red at the activation of the sound. The soldiers turned around and began to evacuate the building, returning to their vehicles and darting out in to the wilderness.
The alarm stopped, and the corridor returned to its pure white polished self.
Confused and lost, Josh slowly turned around, and then he stared in disbelief to see Graham, who looked back at him feeling equally lost and confused.
“Graham?” Josh muttered under his breath, “Graham? You son of a bitch, I knew it!” Josh rans over to him and grabbed his hand, shaking it gratefully, as Graham's face lit up in joy... joy that was also tinged with guilt.
“How did they get you? When did they get you?”Josh exclaimed.
Its been too long,” he replied, “Luckily enough they have power, they can tell the time.. even gave me my own room, but don’t let it sway you.”
“You think I'd believe their bullshit?” Josh said in surprise.
“Well they nearly fooled me, you remember when they began cleansing, we all saw them taking people, bagging them up… and we always wondered, we questioned even our own views -”
“The UNA are this entire planets enemy, we have to stop whatever they have planned” Josh said firmly.
“I'm one step ahead, Graham answered, “Tell me what you need.” Replied Josh.
“I need you to go to hatch 116, it wont be accessible to you yet, so you'll need to use your handy work but once inside, you will know what you have to do. Save our people, Josh…” Graham said, looking intently into the eyes of a comrade he had once believed long dead.
�
��I intend to,” Josh replied.
The two men headed off in separate directions, Graham rans up to a large door way that was computer sealed. It activated at his movement and began to scan him, the lights within the device started to flash in a clever sequence and the door way split in two, allowing him access.
But as Graham carefully entered the room, he was faced with Houghton and a team of soldiers but this time not dressed in white, this specific team was covered in gloss black armour with similar helmets covering their faces, the eye lenses blended in to the curve of the seamless lid. The soldiers were wielding large automatic rifles and standing to attention as if being briefed.
“Lovely of you to join us Graham, but you’re not required to be here,” Houghton said as she looked at him oddly.
Graham looked down at the floor as he muttered a low apology and began to turn away, but then he turned back, noticing a thermal image hologram erected on a computer device near the centre of the room.
“You’ve found them, haven’t you! The group I was once associated with, you’ve anticipated their movements not far from here?”
“Not yet, found them, yes - but the plan of action is undecided.” she told him.
“In that case I pledge myself to the rally, there's no other person who wants to see them dead more than me - let me go… I know them!”
She cast him a wary glance.
“What makes you think we trust you leaving our presence? And did you find your people, my dear friend?”
“I… I didn’t enter…it was that moment I decided I belong here, on the front line, trying to correct my past and bring peace to this ill planet,” he replied.
Houghton’s expression changed to a look that could almost have been disappointment. But Graham was not about to let up.
“Allow me to go, to lead these fellow warriors in to battle, to end the rebellion. Please!”
She paused for thought, and then her decision was made.
“Prepare to disembark,” she announced.
Meanwhile across the command facility, Josh had travelled deep in to the complex, arriving at hatch 116, where Graham told him to go. He held in his hand a freshly severed hand, and it left blood dripping on to the polished white floor, leaving a distinctive trail, but at least the hand of a UNA worker would be the key that he needed...
He put the hand on to the computer device beside the hatch doorway, it scanned the hand print and instantly accepted it, granting access. accepts. The hatch slowly began to open up, and as excess vapour flooded out in to the corridor, Josh covered his face, taking every precaution.
The vapour slowly began to fade, but then only blackness could be seen through the arch of the doorway...
Chapter 8 – Through the Darkness
Josh began to creep forward, slowly but surely starting to make his way in to the room, but but all the while he felt a growing sense of unease, almost a feeling of being watched…
“He said I’d know what to do…” Josh whispered to himself as he stood in the gloom alone and wondered if he was about to lose himself in a moment of madness that felt as if the dark was swallowing him up.
Then as his eyes began to adapt to the darker lit room, Josh noticed a faint obstruction in the fabric of reality, like a force field splitting the room entirely down the middle.
He reached out and placed his hand against what seemed to be an energy surface, covered in tiny electric bolts. As he made contact, the room lit up in bright harsh light, making it impossible for Josh to open his eyes, as a ringing sound and sensation invaded his ears, and a pounding beat collided with his forehead.
Then it suddenly disappeared, and then before him was nothing more than what he had always suspected...
A dozen soldiers marched in to a large Hangar bay, within it were a series of different classed vehicles, one vehicle in particular stood out amongst the others, it was a T22 Wasp, a high powered fully weaponised air ship, small and agile, taking a crew of two and one pilot.
An arm reached out and picked up a small black device, it was placed over the soldier’s wrist, as it made contact with bare flesh it began to manipulate and form a strap around the forearm. The device illuminated with a pulsating dot, verifying the rebellion's location and moving in sequence with their every step. Houghton joined the soldier, she put her hand on his shoulder and turned him around, a look of coldness in her eyes as she recognised Graham.
“I have but one request, for over a year now I have looked over you, supported you…and grown trust over you. Do not fail me!”
Graham raised his hand and grasped Houghton’s waist as he looked into her eyes.
“Failure isn’t within my vocabulary,” he reminded her.
“We have done what we can for this world,” she said, “Saved those who have allowed us, destroyed those who have opposed us, in little over twenty four hours we begin again, and they cannot interfere.”
“We… begin again?” Graham said as his eyes clouded with confusion.
“Why do you think you were brought here, the thousands we have re homed will be protected against the apocalypse, the count down has always been running… in twenty four earth hours this planet will be engulfed in flames, and the new human race will be free to walk its freshly renewed ground. We will be the only ones left.”
Houghton smirked, and then she took a few steps back as the soldiers began to exit through the back of the hangar, and Graham slowly followed, looking back at Houghton not knowing what to say or do, only knowing to just carry on.
Then he opened the door to a large people carrier, it was covered in dark metallic armour with UNA written on the sides in bright white vinyl. He jumped inside, closed the door and put the vehicle in to gear, before rapidly wheel spinning out of the facility.
Josh had never known his senses to deceive him, and he knew as he stood there that thought of being watched, was not a thought of being watched by a few, but thousands. He looked upon the view ahead of him, a seamless room with an almost endless length going on for miles. As the lights slowly crept on to illuminate the room, Josh noticed more and more, human beings chained around the ankles, the chains unravelling from the walls.
The children were sat in large groups, cramped up close to one another, and the older of the group pushing large valves and dials like a factory line.
Some of the floors had been partitioned by the residents to occupy the dead, who were deceased by the constant torture and work load.
Josh looked down at the children who were cowering away at the sight of a stranger.
“Don’t be scared,” he said softly,” I’m not the UNA, I’m here to help.”
And then he crouched down to attend to one of the children’s bleeding ankles.
The children looked at Josh, not knowing how to react or whether to believe what they are seeing, after some had spent nearly two years in captivity since the outbreak, hope had been lost a long time ago.
Josh pulled out a tissue from his pocket, wishing it could be clean, but no one would expect that in this time, not even children as young as they were.
“We’re going to take these chains off now, okay? Then I want you to help me... can you do that?”
The children began to shuffle forward, with a glimmer of trust in the short bearded man.
“Are you an angel, good sir?” asked one of the children.
“Would you believe me if I said I was?”
“No, I mean...yes,” the child replied.
“I’m sorry but I’m not an angel, but I am here to help I promise, I will protect every single one of you,” he vowed.
Josh held the injured child's hand and looked down at his ankle, then at all of the people's ankles, they were all shackled together, all prisoners of the UNA.
“Lets get you free,” he told them.
The UNA military carrier sped along the frost covered fields, hitting speeds of more than ninety miles an hour. The tire tread ripping into the ground sprayed mud in to the air like a power boa
t racing across water.
At the forest edge, Austin and the freedom fighters emerged, the group lacking its original mass with no more than ten following equipped with weaponry and collapsible shelters, they were armed to the teeth but tired, exhausted from their previous conflict and the sheer distance they had travelled on foot.
Austin looked back at the group.
“I think we’ll take a short stop, there's a few fields up ahead to cover which we have to get across by sunset, otherwise we’ll be sitting targets.”
Sasha, a long time surviving member of the group who had been there from the start, stumbled her way past the crowd.
“Keep it short, I'm absolutely knackered but ... one last push. I Don’t suppose there’s any wine left?”
Austin opened up his bag and whipped out a bottle of white wine.
“You’re in Luck, girl! And who needs a fridge at temperatures like this, it’s bloody freezing!”
Sasha cracked open the lid and knocked back the wine almost like guzzling water.
Austin was stunned by her desperation.
“Fuck me, fuck! Gimme some of that!”
“Ha ha, that will keep me warm! Good stuff that, could never afford anything classy back in the day,” Sasha passed the bottle to Austin, “We’re living the royal life now then, aren’t we, my dear?”
Austin raised the bottle to his mouth and swallowed, then suddenly the sound of a engine split the air, it was the roar of a vehicle heading straight for them. The group turned and looked in the direction of the approaching vehicle, only to spot in the distance the UNA military crawler souring through the grass, getting closer and closer by the minute...
“Everyone! Get back in to the forest, don’t look back! Those with weapons take arms, get ready for combat!” Austin shouted, and then he gathered the group off the ground and began pushing them in the direction of the forest.