by Dena Nicotra
That’s when the keening started. The sound was so loud, I had to stop in my tracks and cover my ears. Nothing else mattered because the pain of it was excruciating. Something slammed me from behind, knocking me off my balance and I went head over ass down the rest of the remaining stairs to the bottom. I prepared myself for death and curled into a ball, just as something very heavy landed on top of me.
The keening stopped. Whatever it was that was on top of me was crushing my lungs and I was pushing with everything I had to try and get it off of me. As my hands squished into something wet and mushy, I realized it was Towering Aaron. The heaviness lifted, and there stood Isaiah, broad smile in place.
“See, I told you I was a good helper!”
“Good would be an understatement. Help me up?” He reached down and gave me his hand. I was dizzy and had to pause with my hands on my knees. “Is he dead?” I asked.
“No, he’s just powered down.”
“Good.” I stood up. “Do me a favor, will you?”
“Of course, what do you need?”
“Give me a warning if you’re going to do that again.”
“Do what?”
“That siren you call a mouth.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry about that. I just did what Two told me to.”
“What did you just say?”
“Before Aaron channeled, she connected to me and told me what to do if Aaron came after you.” I smiled as I realized that’s why I had seen her mouth moving. She was two steps ahead and protecting me, even still. I pulled a bottle of water out of my pack and chugged the contents. Then I lit a cigarette and took a seat on the bottom stair. The battle was halfway over. I’d fight the second half for Two. Now, to find that sick, twisted brain.
“You shouldn’t do that,” said Isaiah.
“What?”
“Smoke. It’s not good for you.”
“Yeah, well, tell me something I don’t know. I told you I wasn’t a good person; and stop staring at me.” He looked away. I flicked my cigarette into the darkness.
“So, do you know where the brain is?”
“It’s everywhere. It’s in all of us.”
“I’ll take that as a no. Can you power up purple ass?”
“Oh, that’s not a good idea. For your safety, I strongly advise against that plan.” He began to pace. “It took a lot of my energy to power him down, and I don’t know if I could do it again.”
“I’m not asking you to do it again. This time, I need to get information from him, and then I’ll kill him.” I kicked the purple ass for emphasis…or personal satisfaction. Whatever.
“Cover your ears, but be careful.”
I covered my ears and he let go of a siren that could make your ears bleed. As soon as Towering Aaron stirred, I grabbed my gun and took a few steps back. Isaiah closed his mouth and did the same.
Aaron rolled on his back and began to blink in rapid succession. Then he jumped to his feet in one swift, fluid motion. Turning he locked eyes with me and came face to face with my gun.
“Well played huuuumaaaan. We’re not finished yeeeeeet.”
“No, we’re not, because you are going to lead me to whatever is left of Metchler. Get moving.” I gestured with my gun that I meant business. The purple beast stood his ground.
“Noooooo can do, Leeeeeee. You see, if I lead you to the real meeeee you will kill me and I’m nooooot ready to die.” He wagged his head like a fighter that’s trying to loosen up before a fight.
“Ready or not, it’s time.”
“I think that weeeeeee can…compromise.”
“No deal giganto dick. Move your strange purple ass or I’ll shoot.” Isaiah had moved to stand at my side. Instinctively, I pushed him behind me.
“Touching. Yoooooou would protect that which yooou despise because heeeee resembles an innocent child. I assure yooooou, he is anything but.” I glanced down at the simp child and his eyes had rolled back in his head. Aaron was trying to infect his coding. I moved away from him, taking a position that assured that I could shoot him if I had to.
“You won’t be able toooooo stop us booooth, Lee. One of us will get to you and when weeeee do, we’ll snap your pretty little neck like a chicken booooone and that will be the eeeeend of your crusade.” The boy was shaking from head to toe. His entire body looked like it was vibrating and I debated shooting him before he was able to turn on me and bring Aaron’s words to fruition.
My hesitation paid off, however, when the boy’s eyes rolled back into focus. “Isaiah, run!” I shouted. He looked up at me, and I swear that smile spread across his face as if he’d just heard the greatest news of his life.
“I don’t have to run. I’m stronger than you think I am. I know what he knows.” Everything changed with that one sentence. Towering Asshole just lost all of his value. I fired. It took several shots, but Towering Aaron went down. I knew it was dead when the keening in the distance started. The sounds were distant but it was almost like that coyote…maybe what was left of the infected simps knew that they weren’t getting any meals either. This time, it was my turn to smile at the kid. “Tell me what you know.” He pointed to the dome in the distance. “He’s there, but you’ll need something from him first.” Following Isaiah’s instruction, I pulled my knife from my boot and carved out Towering Aaron’s massive, festering left eye.
The dome was across the complex, but I was crossing it in short order. Nothing was going to stop me now. The door required a retinal scan, so I used my recently acquired passkey and waited for the door to unlock. The resulting click was extremely gratifying.
The dome was a surprisingly sterile environment and I positioned myself cautiously as we entered. Everything was bright white and buzzing with equipment. A soft whooshing noise led me to look up. Overhead, a series of glass tubes pulsed with a red liquid all leading to a section in the back behind a wide glass wall. I moved as silently as I could, taking stock of every sound and watching for any movement. I motioned for Isaiah to stay close.
I could see from this distance that there were several individuals inside this room. All of them were wearing white lab coats. Some moved about, seeming to check monitors, while others seemed completely focused on manning equipment stations. I contemplated my next move. There were too many of them to take out by myself and I doubted even little super simp kid could help me if they turned to attack.
Isaiah tugged on my jacket. “What?” I mouthed. He pointed to a metal door that was opposite the glass room. The signature glass cutout in the shape of a giant “S” told me all I needed to know. I dropped to my stomach and used my elbows to crawl beyond the glass room undetected. When I was clear, I stood up and pushed the door open as quietly as I could. Isaiah was close at my heels.
I don’t know what I had expected, but this was definitely not it. There was no giant glass jar with a brain floating in eerie green bubbling liquid. Instead, there was an emaciated, little man lying in a hospital bed. The top of his head was completely cut away, revealing his exposed brain. A series of tubes that led in from the ceiling delivered the red liquid. This is what made the whooshing sound. All of them led in to neural adapters and probes.
Before me, my not so impressive foe lay vulnerable. His eyes opened and met mine. His skin was a deep shade of jaundice and his pale blue eyes were as cloudy as milk in water. A small smile formed on his face.
“I must admit, you are very impressive, Lee.”
“I can’t say the same for you.”
“Well, you should have known me in my prime.” He labored for a breath. “Ideal Dimensions Expanded was the genesis of a new nation. I brought new meaning to the world! Bring me Mic and I can convince him to restore me. I am sure you realize now who the real brain behind the technology is. Believe me, I can do so much more.” He labored to take a breath, wheezing as the air left his lungs.
“Yeah, well buddy, you definitely changed things for humankind. Sadly, you didn’t change them for the better.”
“All cha
nge comes with a price. History has shown us that…again and again.”
“At some point, we have to learn from our mistakes and right them, don’t you think, Aaron?”
“Yes, of course. You are right. That is why I need you to help me. Micah has to see the errors of his ways. Do you think that it was easy for me to hide away like this? It cost me plenty, but I knew he had gone too far. I used my simps to transport me to a safe location and keep me safe.”
“You think that you are better than Micah, but you are nothing but a monster.”
“You see a monster in me, but others have benefited beyond measure from my knowledge. This conversation is pointless. You’ve killed my last genetic link. I don’t have much time left.” He wheezed and coughed until blood bubbled from his lips. “Please, Lee. You have to bring Micah to me.”
I ignored his plea. “Do you think that justifies the war you created? What about the countless lives that have been lost?”
“I delivered Armageddon as a means to wipe the slate clean, Lee. As I said, all change comes with a price.”
I bent down and pulled my knife from my boot. Moving closer, I leaned close enough to whisper in his ear, “I think it’s time to bring you a little Armageddon.”
I plunged my knife into the top of his exposed brain. Two things happened then at the same time: The tubes came undone like over-pressured hoses, spraying blood all over the place and an alarm went off that caused the simps in the other room to come on the run.
I shot the first four as they came in, but it was Isaiah that came to the rescue. He opened his mouth and did his thing. Between the alarm and his keening, I dropped to my knees and covered my ears. I’d heard simps keen before, but nothing touched the pitch this kid reached. It took mere seconds for the remaining simps to fall. The blood hoses stopped spraying and I watched as little simp boy crumbled to the floor.
The alarm continued to sound off as I picked him up and carried his limp body out like an infant in my arms. I had one thing on my mind, and that was to get him and Two back to Redburg. Make that two things on my mind. I wanted a tall glass of whiskey.
My legs were burning by the time I made it back to the hovcar. I placed the boy in the backseat and then went back for Two. She was far too heavy to carry, so I had to drag her. The sun was coming up as I loaded her into the front seat. I shut the door and leaned against the side. I lit a cigarette and noticed that my hands were caked in dried blood. I added a hot shower to my list. The sunrise was particularly beautiful, with streaks of pink and orange against the mountain. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so at peace. Remembering Giz’s words, I pulled the little bottle from my bag and popped the red pill. This wasn’t over yet. I had two more people to deal with.
I was more than thankful that the hovcar started, but I was definitely going to need a hydro stop. I hoped to find something promising as I navigated away from the mountains into the high desert. I knew if I could get to Mojave I could stop at the airport, but I wasn’t sure that I’d make it that far. The warning light was already on. There was no way in hell I was going to land this thing and scavenge for another mode of transportation.
I sputtered all the way to the airport, but made it without incident. This time, I kept my guard up as I entered the hanger. There was just enough hydro to get me home and I wasted no time fueling up and getting back in the air. With Aaron gone, I felt confident that the bad simps went out with him, but I couldn’t say the same for the baggers and I was way too tired for a fight.
Seeing the top of that old church coming into view was incredible. I wasn’t sure that I’d ever see it again, and hadn’t realized until that moment how much I loved it. I was home. I landed on the main stretch and cruised to my cabin. Giz was out and running toward me before I could get the door open. It was then that I noticed Maude standing in my doorway. Lovely, I hadn’t thought about that little aspect of this mess. I’d deal with that later. Right now, all I wanted was a hot shower, a glass of whiskey, something to eat, and some sleep. In that order.
“Holy shit, are you okay?”
“It’s not my blood.”
“Lee, you are incredible,” said Giz as he hugged me tightly. I welcomed his embrace and hugged him back just as tightly.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said softly.
“Wait Giz, Two’s been damaged and I’ve got a child simp in the backseat.”
“I’ll see to them, you go on inside and take care of yourself. Alice is here with the baby and Maude is in there too. We’ll talk in a bit. I want to hear every detail!” I paused with my hand on the doorknob and sighed heavily. I’d have to deal with this sooner or later, I just wished it was later…after sleep and whiskey.
“Oh my good Lord!” Maude said as she observed me. Alice came around the corner and dropped a plate she’d been carrying. The sound of the breakage made me flinch.
“Lee, what happened?”
“It’s not my blood, Alice,” I said numbly and went straight for the whiskey. I pulled out a glass and filled it halfway and then took a deep gulp. My guests stood slack-jawed and silent. I guess they knew me well enough to let me get a drink in me before they started with the questions. I poured another shot and slumped into a chair at the kitchen table. “Something smells really, really good,” I said.
“It’s spaghetti. Do you want me to fix you a plate?” asked Alice.
“Did you use catsup?” She laughed, and sauntered to the stove. “Of course not, I made the sauce from scratch using tomatoes from Idella’s garden and fresh garlic too.”
“Well go you! I’ll have some in that case.” Maude was sitting in the living room and I noticed that she was waiting for her chance to speak. I wasn’t ready for that conversation just yet, so I poured another shot and took my glass down the hall with me. “I’m going to take a shower first, and then I’ll eat and we can talk,” I called out. Alice sang out, “The baby is asleep, so keep it down if you can.” Bady bug was sprawled out on my bed, her arms outstretched over her little head like she hadn’t a care in the world. I pulled a pair of underwear, socks, sweatpants and a flannel from my drawers as quietly as possible and tip-toed into the bathroom.
My reflection shocked the hell out of me. I looked like something that crawled out of one of my own nightmares. What was more upsetting was the mess that had been made all over Cobb’s coat. I peeled out of my blood-stained clothes and turned on the hot water. While I waited for it to heat up, I swallowed the last of my shot and then studied my face in the mirror. My thoughts went immediately to Two. I prayed Giz could fix her as I climbed in and let the water pour over me. It ran down my body and mixed with soapy pink trails as I shampooed my hair. I scrubbed and rinsed until it ran clear, and then I turned off the water and wrapped myself in a fresh towel.
My legs felt heavy as I tugged on my sweats, but it felt good to be home and clean. The whiskey was also settling my nerves and I was sure I’d sleep for hours once I got some food in my stomach. I towel dried my hair and combed it through. It was still short in comparison to another time in my life, but it touched my shoulders. It had grown some in the last year. This was the only difference between Two and I. I stared at my reflection for several minutes and then I made a mental note to cut it as soon as I could.
The baby hadn’t moved, and I leaned in to kiss her cheek before I closed the door softly behind me. Going down the hallway, I heard Maude say something that I hadn’t expected. “I don’t know that I could, Alice. Maybe someone else could take him a plate. I don’t want to see him caged in a cell. It’s just too much!” I cleared my throat to make my presence known.
“Oh, Lee, your plate is on the table. Give me your glass. I’ll pour you another drink.” I smiled at Alice and handed her my glass. She’d said just the right words. I swirled my fork in the spaghetti and took a bite. It was a little too light on the garlic for my taste, but surprisingly good otherwise. She’d come a long way from her first attempt.
“How is it?” she asked, rubbing
her hands absently across her belly.
“Actually, it’s pretty damn good, Alice, and it is just what I needed.”
“Good, I’m so glad. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. Do you want to talk about it?” She placed a full glass in front of me and I took a sip. There was a lot to tell, but I didn’t want to tell it over and over again. “Later. Right now I just want to focus on this delicious meal. How are you feeling, by the way?”
“I’m good. The morning sickness is subsiding for the most part, and I’ve got a ravenous appetite. Giz says he thinks it’s a boy because I’m eating like a horse.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled. I could tell that there was something bothering her, but now wasn’t the time to ask. Instead, I concentrated on finishing every bite on my plate and then I thanked her again and excused myself. I picked up my glass of whiskey and went out front for a smoke. I wasn’t about to light a cigarette in the house with baby and Alice there. Besides, I needed some air.
I was surprised to see Dallas standing there, as if he’d been waiting for me to come outside…or maybe he was trying to work up the courage to knock. “Hey there, Dallas,” I said. His hands were stuffed deeply into his pockets.
“Hey, Lee. I’m glad you came out because I’d just talked myself out of knocking. I’m sure you’re not up for company just yet, but I wanted to know that you were okay.”
“Pull up a seat with me and have a smoke?” I asked.
“That depends. You got any more where that came from?”
“Hold my cigarette and I’ll go get you a glass,” I said with a laugh. Dallas was one person I didn’t mind talking to, although I wasn’t sure I was ready to learn who had survived and who had perished just yet.
I managed to grab the whiskey bottle, my favorite old crocheted blanked off the back of the couch, and an extra glass without any feedback from the peanut gallery. Dallas was waiting for me with his usual easy style. His boots were propped up on the railing, and a slow smile formed on his face as I presented the glass.