FLOOR 21: Descent (The Tower Legacy)

by Jason Luthor

  I couldn’t have coped.

  It’s all over as fast as it started and I realize that everyone’s staring at us. It’s embarrassing, and I pull myself off of her, but Dodger’s still stunned. She just sits there, catching her breath. I see her mouthing, “Thank you,” but I just can’t look her in the eyes. I look away, trying to avoid everyone as I move to the back. They’re all cheering and a few are saying I did a good job, but I don’t buy that. So, I’m moving along, and the thing is, just as I look to my side, I see something move behind the group. It’s so quick that it happens before I can scream. One of the beasts jumps out of the piles of bodies, and my eyes jam open as I watch its long claw slide straight through Jamila’s leg, puncturing it in a cloud of blood. Then she’s falling forward, her mouth open in a scream as her body collapses under her. Like lightning, Abbott’s turning with his sword, and even though the creature pulls back its hand to protect itself, nothing stops the Ignition Blade. It cuts straight through the monster’s arm and passes right through its skull, sending disgusting bits pasting the ground. We barely scan the room for more of them before we turn back to Jamila, who’s lying there screaming as a deep crimson stain starts blooming across her pants. The sound of her shouting pulls the hairs on my neck, and my face yanks over to her. I almost can’t watch as she gasps and writhes on the ground. Everyone else is rushing past me, dropping to their knees to help, but all I can do is stand and watch as the blood sprawls down her leg.

  Lieutenant Shields is at her side faster than I can blink, and his scissors slice open her uniform just as fast. Her gorgeous dark skin has a gaping hole I can’t even look at, and I grab the wall, lurching over as my lunch threatens to rush up my throat. Abbott takes a knee beside them and watches the lieutenant as he starts pulling out bandages. “What’s the situation?”

  Shields shakes his head. “Could be worse. Didn’t hit the bone or artery, but she needs this dressed.” He hands the commander a bulky roll of gauze. “Press the wound while I tape it.”

  “Of course,” he says as he hesitates over the leg. Like he remembers it at the last second, he looks up at Jamila and tells her, “This is going to hurt.”

  I can feel the panic in her eyes as he pushes down on the wound, and her scream vibrates in my bones. There’s no way I can keep looking, and I turn away again, watching as Lieutenant Pena and Captain Sunny sprint up the juncture to watch the hallways with their gun barrels. I just tell myself to keep my eyes on them as I hear Shields saying, “Isn’t that a lab up there?”

  Abbott replies, “It looks like it might have been.”

  “If so, we’re in luck. We might be able to treat her better if we get her inside. No guarantees.”

  “Of course.” I hear his voice and I don’t want to pay attention, but I have to. “Coleman, Jones, over here.”

  Me and Tommy jump over to Jamila, and I’m at least grateful that there’s something soaking up the blood. The gauze around her leg looks like it’s wrapped pretty tight, but I don’t know anything about taking care of something like that, and I really don’t know if she’s going to survive. These creatures’ fingers have tips like knives and this one sliced clean through her. As far as I know, any cut like that can be lethal. Abbott sees me staring at the wound and waves me off. “She’s going to be fine.”

  It takes me a second to pry my eyes away and look at him. “But her leg’s so—”

  “Coleman,” he says, his voice going dead serious as his eyes carve me up. “She’s going to be fine. Is that clear?”

  “Uh, right. Yes, sir,” I say with a shake of my head.

  “Good. Now, help us. We’re going to move her to the lab up ahead.”

  I don’t even agree. I’m too freaked out, and I just drop beside them, listening to the instructions but barely hearing anything. I mean, I understand what I’m being told, but it’s like when someone talks to you in a dream, so I get the gist but the words are like an echo. Next thing I know, we’re carrying her and she’s screaming, but time flashes by, and then she’s on a table in the next room with her leg propped up on a box. Lieutenant Shields is tossing stuff out of cabinets while the rest of the team keeps the doors secured, and there I am, just staring at her as she sucks wind. I’m oblivious to the lab. I mean, I pick up on the fact that there’s Creep trapped behind glass tubes all along the wall, but it’s one of those things that barely registers with me. The only reason I’m able to look away is that I notice some cages against the far wall. All the noise behind me fades off as I’m walking over, and I realize I’m staring at even more dead Creepers, just like we found a few floors up. This time, though, I can hear a rattling while the floor shakes beneath me. One cage, right in the center, is rocking back and forth as this long tongue slithers out and flicks at the air. The mutated thing inside is breathing really heavy and my ears are filling up with the raspy sound of its nostrils.

  My eyes are locked hard onto it, so I almost scream when I hear someone right behind me say, “Freaky.” It sends me spinning with my rifle up, and I nearly clobber Dodger across the jaw with the barrel. Still, she acts like she doesn’t even notice as she waltzes past me. There’s a computer off to the side displaying vital signs, and she’s streaking right for it.

  “Don’t do that,” I tell her as she walks up to it. “Where are you going?”

  “Where do you think?” she asks as I follow her to the edge of the rattling cage. I know the monster inside used to be a person. At least, I think so, and I remember how bad I felt for Creepy Sally. Whatever these things are now, they were human once, right? Still, up close, the creature looks like it would try to rip your limbs off. I mean, one of them just put a hole into Jamila’s leg. Then there’s the fact that it just looks . . . I dunno, not human. Besides the fact that its face is so bony, all of its muscles look distorted, like a weird piece of art. The Creep bulges and you can see thick veins pumping almost right out of the skin.

  “Dodger, you’re so weird.”

  “I know right?” she continues with a smile as she starts tapping at the monitor. “It’s probably not a good idea to let it grab you with its tongue. So, you’d better watch out.”

  “Yeah, I pretty much think that I could figure that one out.”

  It feels like she’s not even paying attention to me. “This thing is a-mazing,” she says as she messes with the monitor. I can see all sorts of screens flashing up and down as she works her way through it.

  “How do you even know how to use that thing?”

  “Well, you know, we’re all on this trip for a reason, Jackie. Tommy’s the muscle and Utada’s a great scout. Jamila’s the one that keeps our spirits up.” She looks over her shoulder, at where Shields is still working at the medical table, and for half a second, her lips do twist into a frown. “Well, she was.”

  “So, you’re, what? The science whiz or something?”

  “Not all the science. Lieutenant Shields is the biologist, but computers are kind of my thing.” She pauses and backs away. The screen’s got an outline of this creature’s body with its skeleton displayed like an x-ray, and there’s, like, a dozen messages popping up. “Its muscles and circulation have all been twisted around, but the skeleton’s the same. This was definitely a human.”

  A voice breaks our conversation as Abbott steps between us. “Which is why we put it out of its misery,” he says, raising his sword. I watch Dodger’s eyes reflecting the orange glow of the blade as she starts to grab at the commander’s arm, but Abbott’s too fast. The panting creature in the cage suddenly chokes and blood shoots to the ground as the sword jams between the bars. The life signs on the monitor go flat, and Dodger’s eyes are erupting, like they’re going to fly out of her skull.

  “Commander Abbott . . . sir!” Her hands are shaking as she rubs at her face and I’m just thinking, damn, she’s barely keeping it together. “Sir, why would you . . . we could have learned so much about these things!”

  “And leave a human in misery?” I could swear his eyes are going
to slice right through her. “Understand one thing. The primary purpose of a Scavenger is to preserve the lives of our people. The Cultists are our enemies because they try to interfere with that mission, but this sad creature?” Abbott’s eyes hop down to the dead Creeper, with its blood leaking onto the ground. “Imagine if that was you. Just minutes ago, that nearly was you. Would you want to be left in such a condition?” Dodger doesn’t have time to reply before the commander spins to the side. “I need you on one of the computers. We need to identify where they’re holding our missing teammate.”

  She stutters a yes as she walks away, and I’m just left standing there as the deep red liquid collects around my boots. I mean, he’s right. Abbott gets off on fighting and being a tough commander, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say anything good about killing anyone. Most of the time, he’s talking about how hard we’re supposed to try and save people, not the other way around. If you’d have asked me about him two months ago, I would’ve told you he’s a jerk. He still is, it’s just he’s also kinda respectable. Just, he’s not the guy I thought he was. Anyway, I’m getting back to everyone else, when the commander pulls me aside, and I’m completely terrorized by the low tone of his voice. It feels like it’s rumbling right down my spine.

  “Don’t give your teammates a reason to despair,” he says quietly while his eyes pound into mine. “Our situation is bad, but the moment you start giving the people around you a reason to give up, you put their lives at risk. Jamila’s chance of survival is better if she believes it is possible. Also, I don’t think I should have to mention the fact that deep feelings of depression are likely to trigger an incident this far down in the Deep.”

  “Right, sir. Sorry. I just wasn’t thinking about it. Plus, I mean, I was a little . . .”

  “You were worried about your friend. Don’t you think that’s all the more reason to give her hope?”

  He’s got me. “Yes, sir.”

  “What do you think of Dodger?”

  “What?” I’m not expecting the question, and I’m not even sure I know what he means. “She’s . . . cool?”

  “What do you think of her attitude toward the creature?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, she had a point, maybe? Studying them might help us understand how to beat them. I don’t think that’s terrible or anything.”

  I can’t tell whether he’s happy with my answer or not, and he just stares down at me for what feels like a minute. I can literally feel my heart counting the seconds. After forever, he nods and looks at the ground, then takes a second before glancing back my way. “What if that were your friend in that cage, Coleman? What if that were Mike?”

  Just thinking about it makes my stomach twist so hard that I can feel a sick feeling running up into my throat. “I’d . . . want to end the pain for him.”

  “Whoever that creature once was? That person had a family. They’d want the same. None of us wants to see someone we care for turned into one of those things. Remember, above all, our purpose is to limit suffering. That’s the first duty of our group. We aren’t Security and our duty isn’t first to enforce rules or be a military arm for Tower Authority. We exist to help life endure, even if that means having to make hard decisions. Life and death decisions.” His finger rises until it’s a breath away from my face. “Serve life. Leave no man behind. Over everything else, these are our duties. Without them, we’re just thieves and killers. Our code gives us purpose, and that is to protect the lives of our people and the lives of those around us. Until Tower’s end.”

  “Until Tower’s end,” I reply on instinct, and, for the first time in forever, those words actually mean something. Abbott gives me a final nod as he spins toward Lieutenant Pena. “You’ll need to take Jamila back to the extraction point. You can use the room we secured earlier if necessary, but I wouldn’t waste too much time getting out of here.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Pena doesn’t even bother thinking about the question. She just agrees. That’s, like, the exact opposite of what I would do. I always question everything, but maybe that’s not the best way of getting stuff done in a group like this. Anyway, I’m still trying to figure the commander out as I watch him walk up behind Dodger and ask, “What have you found?”

  “That sort of depends on what you want to know, but I got all the deets,” she says as she types away at the keys. “I dug up some bonus info on what they were doing here.”

  “Give it to me.”

  She turns around, and I swear, even with how crapsack this place is, Dodger’s acting like it’s peaches. This chick can’t stop smiling, and I don’t know if I hate it or admire her for being so mind bogglingly enthusiastic. Anyway, she starts waving around. “This? All this right here? Mega-research and biological labs. That’s why we’re seeing all these things that the Cultists are calling Creep Beasts. They’re taking volunteers from their people and then injecting them with tons of Creep.” I knew it. This is what I was telling Pygmalion. “That or they’re letting them sit in it until the bond starts to happen. Anyhoo, the cages we’re seeing are failed experiments they’ve been running.”

  Abbott’s eyebrow cocks upward. “Failed? I thought bonding was what they wanted.”

  “Not really like this. I’m not sure, but I think they’re trying to find a way to keep their brains functioning after the Creep’s been joined with them. So, they ship the failed cages out to other parts of the Tower. The thing is, by now, they’ve learned tons of stuff about how the Creep works on, like, the most basic biological level. They’ve got hundreds of files here about how fast Creep cells can copy themselves or how long it takes before it will bond with someone. This computer’s basically filled with the best information ever.”

  “I’m not sure I agree with that final assessment but message understood,” Abbott says with a nod. “How are they creating the bond, though? I’ve rarely seen these creatures over years of Scavenging. How are they producing them so fast?”

  “Well, remember when Dr. Coleman said the Creep was psychoreactive?” she asks as she tosses me a wink, like I need any reminder about what my own dad said. “So, obviously the Creep does have some sort of reaction to what we’re feeling. I haven’t been able to find out how, but I’m pretty sure that they’re only taking volunteers that are already depressed or something.”

  Sunny laughs. “That can’t be hard. Who the hell wants to live in a place like this? Things were bad enough for people like me living on Floor 19.”

  Abbott glances over at him. “Well, don’t worry yourself, captain. Just a little longer and you’ll be able to move out. Seven years, remember?”

  “Yeah, why do you think I signed up for this in the first place?”

  “I’m probably more aware of what motivates you than you think.” The commander’s eyes cut to slits and for a second the two of them stare each other down. It’s weird seeing it happen. Almost since the day we’ve left, they’ve had this weird staring contest that goes on every now and then, like those passive aggressive moments when Sunny kinda questions the commander. The thing is, the farther into the Deep we’ve gone, the more nervous that Sunny’s been making me. I mean, nothing was worse than seeing him smile at all those Cultists we killed. That was, like, the last time he even smiled like that. It took dead bodies to get it out of him, and ever since then, he just looks annoyed all the time. Not to mention the death stare he gave me. Anyway, Abbott eventually looks back at Dodger. “What about our missing Scavenger? Where is he being held?”

  Her ice blue eyes turn to the monitor as her fingers fly across they keyboard. “I don’t think it’s far. At least, it won’t be if we don’t run into the Creep or any halls with missing chunks of floor or anything.”

  “Unlikely, but give me your estimate.”

  “I think there’s about forty junctures between here and there? If you want me to guess, I’d say it would take maybe an hour. That’s if we’re going full super speed, considering all the damage we’re going to have work
through in the halls.”