“This is a big one. I’ve been waiting a long time for this type of conquest,” the masked attacker quietly said.
Chapter 10
A man in a gas mask peeked around one of the buildings, spying on Reb and Giles as they explored the town. He used a gadget on his wrist to communicate with his leader.
“This is Harold Erling trying to reach Lionel Coleman. Are you there, Boss?” the masked man asked.
He heard static on the device before his leader answered. “Yes, this is Lionel. What do you need, Harold?”
“I see two Steampunks leaving the hardware store. What are your orders?” Harold asked.
“We desperately need resources. Hunt them down. Contact other members of our group if you need backup,” Lionel directed.
“It shouldn’t be difficult to capture this couple. Over and out,” Harold said and ended the conversation.
Reb and Giles wandered down the sidewalk, ignorant of the potential dangers.
“When do you think the atomic power will affect us?” Reb asked.
Giles pulled up his right sleeve and saw black veins bulging on his forearm. “Apparently, it’s affecting me now. It’s time for me to use a dose of serum,” Giles said, then pulled out a syringe.
He injected the antidote into his wrist, causing the swollen veins to shrink.
Reb pretended to be indifferent about the mutation. “I guess the anti-radiation serum should be the least of my worries. Obviously, we’re not alone. Do you think we’re facing mutated Steampunks, or something else?”
“It must be mutants. Steampunks are perfectly capable of surviving in radioactive environments, but it turns them into bloodthirsty animals. That would explain Alban’s bloody hat. Regular humans can’t survive in this type of environment,” Giles explained.
Reb played with her iron crowbar. “It’s always better to trust the most logical and simple explanation. I hope we have enough serum to survive this situation.”
Giles explained, “Think of it this way, judging from our limited supplies, we need to be motivated enough to escape from this town in a short period of time.”
*****
Meanwhile, Savannah was fleeing from her attacker. She hurried to a junkyard and hid behind an old sports utility vehicle. The masked man ran into the junkyard too and searched behind several of the trashed cars. Savannah unraveled her chain belt and waited for the attacker to come closer. The masked man found her and swung his machete. Savannah hurried out of the way, and his metal blade struck the vehicle. He swung at her again, and this time Savannah stepped out of the way used her chain as a whip. She flailed the grafted chain at the masked man, striking him several times.
“I’m not exiting this world without a fight! You’re not the first psycho who tried to kill me!” Savannah yelled as she whipped the attacker.
“Screw you! Steampunks wander into this territory all the time! What do you think happens to them?” the masked man threatened.
Savannah stopped attacking the criminal and tried to get some answers from him. “You’re killing Steampunks? I have a feeling you’re not the only resident in this town. Why are you in this nuclear zone killing people?”
The masked man coughed. “I’m part of a research team. We wanted to get away from the Steampunks when they conquered America. Radiation is one of your weaknesses and we’re trying to use it as a weapon.”
“I don’t understand why everyone wants to kill us!” Savannah shouted.
The mysterious attacker removed his mask, showing a face that was covered with radiation burns. “We don’t have a regular food source here. You have a really pretty face. Do you mind if I take a bite out of it?”
Savannah screamed and then ran into a different section of the junkyard. The man quickly followed her until he began to violently cough. Savannah hid behind another car while she waited for the assailant. The junkyard became eerily quiet. She stepped into the open environment and saw the criminal lying in the dirt. The clothing designer gingerly approached him.
“What’s the matter with you? A moment ago, you were chasing me with a machete,” Savannah muttered.
The burned man struggled to move. “I’m getting really sick. Maybe I’ve been here too long. I need medical attention.”
Savannah walked closer. “If I agree to help, do you promise not to eat me?”
“I’m not hungry anymore,” the assailant weakly responded.
Savannah took the thug’s hand and accidentally ripped his arm out of the socket. She looked at the severed arm and screamed.
*****
Meanwhile, Gable and Priscilla wandered away from the neighborhood they had been exploring. They found a series of wooden planks lined up in the dirt. Gable examined the ground.
“Why do you think these wooden planks are here? It almost makes me think they’re covering something,” Gable pondered out loud.
Priscilla waved her metal fan to cool down. “I doubt it. We’re next to a side road. There’s nothing here.”
Gable stepped onto one of the planks but it was a foolish choice. The weight of his grafted bones and clothes caused the wooden to break. He fell into a pit and landed on a pile of hard objects. Gable quickly noticed that he was on top of a pile of grafted human bones.
“These are human bones! Somebody is killing Steampunks and throwing their bones in a pit!” Gable hollered.
Priscilla peered inside the pit. “Gable, are you all right? That was quite a fall. Are you sure they’re bones?”
He held up a human skull. “Of course I’m sure! Take a good look at this!”
Priscilla gasped and then she quickly regained her composure. “We need to get out of here! Can you climb out?”
The pile of bones was too unsteady for Gable to stand on. “The bones keep shifting under my weight! Normally, I could use my enhanced strength to jump out of this pit, but my footing isn’t steady enough!”
“Let me help!” Priscilla replied.
“Don’t come in the pit with me! We’ll both get stuck! Find a rope or something that I can grab! Hurry! This is a dangerous environment! I have a feeling someone is eating Steampunks! There’s no other reason for anyone to bury a bunch of bones!” Gable explained.
Priscilla was reluctant to leave him alone to find help. “I don’t want to abandon you.”
“It’s okay, Priscilla. You’re doing the right thing. Find my relatives, so we can find a way out of this horrible town,” Gable prompted.
The southern belle nodded her head. “I’ll be back soon. Both of us are getting out of here alive.”
Gable sat down on the bones and responded, “You bet. I know you’ll take care of me.”
Priscilla hurried away from the mass grave to search for other members of the Nelson family. Gable tried not to panic while he remained trapped in the pit.
*****
Reb and Giles found another path and slowly walked through the neighborhood, watching for enemies. Neither of them knew what to expect.
“It’s really quiet here. I don’t think anyone alive is lurking in this neighborhood,” Giles mentioned.
Reb held up the iron crowbar. “You never know. Anything could be possible in this type of environment.”
They strolled past several houses. Harold and one of his companions hid underneath a house and waited for the couple to come closer. Two men grabbed Giles’ legs and caused him to fall to the ground. They dragged him under the house before he had time to react. Reb grabbed his hands and tried to pull her husband to safety.
“Somebody is pulling me under the house!” Giles complained.
“Hold on, Giles! I’m not letting anything happen to you!” Reb growled.
Giles felt stuck. “What’s going on?”
Harold and his friend successfully pulled Giles away from Reb and dragged him completely underneath the house. Reb was upset when she looked under the patio as the assailants had quickly disappeared with Giles. Reb roared in frustration and picked up her grafted baton. She banged her baton against t
he wall and smashed several wooden planks. The attorney continued to assault the house until she left a gaping hole in the wall. Soon she felt her muscles shifting underneath the skin. It became increasingly painful as her bones cracked and moved. Reb pulled out a syringe and injected the serum in her neck. Her body returned to normal and then she breathed heavily from the incident.
“I don’t know what to do about this problem. This is like a nightmare. I’m coming for you, Giles. You can count on it,” Reb feebly said to herself.
Chapter 11
Beauregard went back into the house but couldn’t find his companion. “Malcolm, where did you go? We need to get out of here before the radioactivity mutates us! I want to find the others to see if they’ve had better luck!”
He wandered through the house in vain. When Beauregard reached the entertainment room, a masked man, holding an axe, leaped out in front of him. Beauregard yelped as the assailant swung the metal axe at him. Beauregard ran around the room and his tormentor chased him. The masked man planted his axe in the sofa, but Beauregard ran out of the way. He yanked the axe out of the sofa and faced Beauregard again. The artist pulled out the kitchen knife, but the masked man quickly broke the utensil with his weapon, nearly severing Beauregard’s hand in the process.
“An axe is going to beat a kitchen knife every time!” the assailant growled.
Beauregard unbuckled his belt - it was laced with bullets. “Did you take Malcolm? Give me some answers!”
He swung the belt overhead and whipped the masked man. It was a painful experience for the mysterious attacker.
“Stop hitting me! You’re not supposed to fight back!” the masked man yelled, using his left arm as a shield.
He prepared to swing the axe again, but Beauregard broke the axe’s handle with his heavy belt.
“I’m not in the mood to be assaulted!” Beauregard bellowed.
The masked man dropped the remnants of his weapon and fled through the front doorway with Beauregard following closely behind him. The artist stopped on the front porch and realized that Malcolm might be in a grave situation.
*****
Gable tried not to panic as he lie in the pit. He heard footsteps and felt completely trapped. Luckily, Percy peered into the mass grave and found him.
“What happened to you?” Percy wondered out loud.
Gable sighed with relief. “Dad, I thought you were a serial killer.”
Percy examined the pit. “Those bones look like the remains of Steampunks.”
“Totally. I think someone is eating Steampunks, or killing them for a ritual sacrifice,” Gable replied.
“Somebody decided we’d make a good food source. That’s really sick,” Percy commented.
Gable still couldn’t stand up. “This entire problem makes me feel nauseous. Do you have anything that can help me get out here?”
Percy held up a rope. “I have something that you might appreciate. This rope was hidden in the gas station. Your mother and I tried to find a way out of this there, but the phone was dead.”
He tossed the rope into the grave, giving Gable a chance to escape. The casino owner held onto the rope and climbed out of the pit.
When Gable got out, he asked, “Speaking of Mom, where is she?”
“Your mother ran away from something. I didn’t see it. Unfortunately, she could be anywhere in this town. Don’t worry, Gable. We’ll find her. By the way, where’s Priscilla?” Percy inquired.
Gable was frustrated and said, “She tried to find you guys. Now we’re both missing a spouse.”
Percy placed his hand on Gable’s shoulder. “I think we need to find the rest of our group. Some thing or some one is stalking us in this nuclear zone. This town might be overrun with mutated Steampunks.”
“Are you sure they’re Steampunks? Priscilla and I found a grafted car that was abandoned in one of the driveways. It almost looks like someone is luring Steampunks here purposefully,” Gable explained.
“That’s impossible. Regular humans would die if they were exposed to this much atomic power,” Percy responded.
Gable argued with his father. “Everybody says Steampunks mutate into wild animals when they’re exposed to huge amounts of radiation. Do you honestly think wildlife is going to dig a mass grave for human bones? That’s a man-made trap.”
“I see what you mean, but it still doesn’t make any sense,” Percy muttered.
Gable felt a sharp pain in his torso, then his ribcage began to ripple and transform. He pulled a syringe out of his pocket and injected the antidote into his wrist. The transformation ceased and Gable felt much better.
“That wasn’t fun,” Gable muttered.
Percy was worried. “Are you okay? That looked really painful.”
“It was brief, yet pretty painful. You might want to take a dose of serum as a preventative measure. I don’t think you’ll want to feel a mutation,” Gable warned.
Percy obeyed his son and injected the serum into his own wrist. “This is fine for now, but I don’t have enough serum to last very long.”
“Neither do I. Look, mutation is inevitable if we stay here. Let’s find everyone else and figure out an escape route. Time is getting shorter by the minute,” Gable insisted.
The two men hurried away from the pit and ran toward another section of the town.
*****
Malcolm woke up and discovered he was tied to a chair. It took a moment for his eyes to focus. He felt weaker than usual and was unable to escape from his restraints. The sports commentator saw a masked man sharpening a butcher knife on a table.
“Why did you bring me here? I don’t understand what’s going on,” Malcolm asked.
The masked man put the knife down. “Wait until the boss gets here. I prefer to let him do the talking.”
He went back to sharpening the blade, as Malcolm tried to clear his head. The German man felt slightly dizzy and had a headache. It occurred to Malcolm that he was probably in the home’s basement. The room had a single light bulb that hung from the ceiling. On a workbench he could see tools that were stained with blood. Malcolm was disturbed when he saw meat hooks hanging from the ceiling. He whipped his head to the right when the basement door opened. Another masked man entered the basement and walked over close to him.
“Where am I? Just let me go and I won’t tell the police anything,” Malcolm begged.
The second villain said, “Sorry, but I don’t let my victims escape. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lionel and I run this little town. It’s too bad that you woke up. Everything is easier and less painful when it happens in your sleep. I might was well tell you the truth. My colleagues and I captured you for a food source. Our resources are limited because animals can’t survive in a nuclear environment.”
Malcolm became angry. “You’re sick! Why would you want to eat people and live in a radioactive area?”
“People is a very strong word. I’m not sure if Steampunks are really people,” Lionel muttered.
“Judging from your response, I assume you’re not spliced,” Malcolm shot back.
Lionel paced for a moment, then replied “Of course not. Back when grafting was in its developmental stages, I was a scientist who strongly opposed the process. It’s unnatural and dangerous. Do you have any idea how many people died during the test stages? It was an unethical excuse to perform human experiments.”
Malcolm scoffed. “And cannibalism is much more ethical?”
“This might sound like a joke to you, but I take it very seriously. Years passed and grafting became part of the mainstream culture. You became known as Steampunks for some reason. I saw the side effects of metal grafting. It alters your bodies and turns people into a completely different species. Why shouldn’t we eat you? Steampunks are plentiful and they’re not even human anymore,” Lionel explained.
Malcolm tried to break free from the restraints, but he was still somewhat groggy. “You’re a lousy scientist. Steampunks still have human DNA. It was prove
n through research. More importantly, I want to know why you choose to live in this nuclear zone.”
Lionel pulled out a syringe. “This anti-radiation serum is the one useful product that your culture made. It prevents my crew from dying in this radioactive town. This place is a relic from the 21st Century and a safe haven from Steampunks. I needed the power plant. The nuclear reactor has enough atomic power to destroy several cities. I want to create explosives from this power plant and detonate them in various locations around the United States. Imagine a world overrun with mutated Steampunks. It would be absolute chaos. This town was supposed to be my solution to exterminate the Steampunks, but I’m not sure if my original plan is going to work anymore.”
Malcolm was disgusted. “You’re just another terrorist. No offense, but I’ve seen a lot of crazy people like you. Give me back my serum.”
“Sorry, but we need it to survive in this town. Granted, the serum only slows down our deaths. Unfortunately, my team and I are finally suffering the effects of radiation poisoning. Nobody from my research team can return to mainstream society because the authorities will label us as a nuclear threat. We’re living on borrowed time, but I think we can still make a difference before the end comes,” Lionel lectured.
Malcolm still felt lightheaded. “What are you talking about?”
Lionel opened the door. “Don’t worry about it. You won’t be around to see the result.”
He exited the basement and left Malcolm alone with the other masked man. The sports commentator glared at the cannibal when he walked closer.
“A big Steampunk like you should be able to feed me for the entire season,” the cannibal said, as he held up the butcher knife.
“Bite me! Never mind. I don’t want you to bite me,” Malcolm complained.
The villain took off his mask. “This radiation is really bothering me. I feel kind of funny.”
Malcolm grimaced when he saw radiation burns on the cannibal’s face. The cannibal rubbed his face and then he sneezed. Blood splattered onto Malcolm’s face.
The Steampunk blankly stared at his captor. “Great. Now I probably have hepatitis.”
The Post-Apocalyptic Society: A Nelson and Hyde Vendetta Page 6