Final Dawn: Season 3 (The Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Series)

by Mike Kraus

  Nancy snorted at the mention of Samuel’s name and nodded thoughtfully. “Probably to the nexus, then. Same place we’re headed. I don’t like that one bit. Dealing with the AI’s one thing, but those creatures are going to make it even worse.”

  Crumbs flew across the table as Leonard bit into a large cracker too aggressively. After swallowing he lowered his voice, looking around to make sure no one was listening. “Krylov seems to like you. He’s listened to your opinions so far, anyway. Maybe you can convince him to deal out a bit of destruction on our way through the canal so we can slow the creatures down a bit. It might not do all that much in the grand scheme of things, but who knows.”

  Nancy nodded and then turned to look at a door opening at the other end of the room. Past a few crewmen who were also partaking in the meal, as if on cue, Commander Krylov stepped through the bulkhead. Looking around, he spotted Nancy and Leonard and nodded to them before taking a dish and filling it with a small portion of stew and packaged crackers. Greeting the crewmen as he went, he walked toward Nancy and Leonard and sat down next to Leonard, giving him a clap on the back as he looked at Leonard’s bandaged leg.

  “Mr. McComb; how goes the exercise?”

  Leonard smiled and shrugged. “As well as it can, I guess. It hurts like hell, but your doctor’s done a good job taking care of everything.”

  Krylov dug a spoon into the stew, making a face as he put it in his mouth. “He’s doing a fair sight better than our cook, I’m afraid. Poor bastard drew the short straw after the landing party incidents.” Krylov picked up a cracker and opened the package, pushing the stew away in the process. “As bad as it is, though, you’d both better get as much in you as you can stomach. We’re coming up on the crossing in two hours, and I would appreciate your assistance up on the command deck, Ms. Sims, and yours as well, Mr. McComb, if you can manage.”

  Leonard slapped the thigh of his injured leg and smiled broadly. “Nothing I can’t handle, Commander. We were actually just discussing the canal before you arrived.”

  The commander raised an eyebrow as he took a small bite from the cracker. “Oh? Please enlighten me. I could use as much information going into this as I can get.”

  Leonard looked at Nancy and she took a deep breath before speaking. “We haven’t talked about it much, but we’re in agreement that the creatures’ goal is to reach the nexus. They’re traveling in huge swarms like the ones we saw when we were going from Washington to Alaska.”

  “Any particular reason why they’d be trying to reach this ‘nexus’ that you can think of?”

  “We were just starting to discuss that when you arrived.” Leonard interjected. “It’s likely that the AI is gearing up for the next step it’s taking, whatever that is. You know the theories that we were throwing around, but there’s no solid evidence for any of them yet.”

  “What we do know,” Nancy said, “is that letting those creatures get to where they’re going is anything but a good idea.”

  Krylov’s eyes narrowed as he glanced back and forth between Nancy and Leonard, a slight smile gracing his face. “I have the feeling you’re about to ask me to do something, yes?”

  Nancy reached out and patted Krylov’s arm, smiling as she did so. “Very observant, Commander. Leonard and I agree that any disruption in the creatures’ movements could be beneficial. Since we’re passing through the canal anyway, we were hoping that there might be some way to prevent any more of them from crossing over the canal.”

  Krylov looked at the surface of the table for a long moment as he quietly stroked his chin. “Hm. I think we can manage that.” He stood up, tossing the uneaten half of his cracker into his lukewarm stew. “Follow me and I’ll show you a few options at our disposal.”

  Rachel Walsh | Marcus Warden | David Landry

  11:09 PM, April 24, 2038

  The sound of gravel being pulverized under the wheels of the locomotive was harsh over the sound of the engines themselves. David, Marcus and Rachel all winced at the noise, but with nothing they could do about it, they held on and hoped for the best. Tucked in a corner and whining loudly, Sam cowered in fear at the sounds surrounding him. Marcus reached out a hand to comfort him, only to be thrown to the floor as the locomotive rocked from side to side. Metal ground upon metal as the wooden ties shifted under the weight of the train, causing the tracks to begin to fall out of alignment. With only a few ties placed, the amount of stress on the spikes and ties was enormous, and the entire repaired section was under threat of collapse.

  “We have to stop! It’s not going to hold!” David screamed in Rachel’s ear, fighting to be heard.

  “It’s not like we have a choice anymore! Just hold on!” Rachel shouted back at David as she watched through the front of the train to see the repaired section coming to an end. “We’re nearly there!”

  Another lurch rocked the train in the opposite direction and the cold snap of steel chilled Marcus’s spine. David and Rachel were thrown across the narrow confines of the locomotive while Marcus barely managed to maintain his hold on a nearby seat as he sank to the floor to try to get to a safer position. As he watched out the window, the black clouds ahead began to tilt crazily to the left before rocketing back to the right as the train lifted several inches up and then slammed back to the ground. Though the lead engine had gone through the repaired tracks without an issue, the stress caused by the subsequent engines and boxcars was too much for the meager assortment of wooden ties and spikes. The rails began to break off from the ties, sending the spikes rocketing through the air due to the sheer amount of pressure they were under and widening the width of the rails to the point where the rear cars were no longer in full contact with them. No longer constrained by the rails, the rear cars began to wobble, causing the entire train to pitch back and forth and setting up a resonance that threatened to derail the entire set of cars.

  Frantically pawing through the controls, Rachel tried desperately to find something to slow the train down, but as she pushed and pulled on a series of buttons, switches and small levers, one of them caused the train to jolt forward even faster. The engines went into overdrive as the throttle was pushed to its maximum and the train struggled to find traction to pull the rear boxcars through the last few feet of the now nearly re-destroyed section of repaired track. Although this increase in speed wasn’t the result Rachel had hoped for, it was the one that ultimately resulted in success. Instead of stopping and hoping that the oscillation of the train would cease before the locomotives and boxcars were thrown off the tracks, the increase in speed broke the resonant frequency set up by the fishtailing boxcars, causing them to straighten out as the back and forth motions of the train ceased. A final horrendous squeal of metal upon metal signaled the end of the repaired section of the track as the boxcars’ wheels locked back into the rails with several satisfying thumps. Free of the abrupt panic brought on by the near-disastrous experience, Rachel remembered the emergency lever she had used previously to stop the train and placed her hand on it, preparing to pull it downward.

  Marcus’s hand came down on Rachel’s and pulled it off of the lever as he pushed her to the side. “No! We’re clear! If we stop again, we’ll have to go through all that startup nonsense again!”

  Hearing Marcus’s voice cleared the clouds in Rachel’s mind and she stepped back and sank to the floor, her back against the wall of the locomotive. Instead of the sound of scraping metal or spikes being torn from wooden ties, the only sounds were the engines of the locomotives and the clicking of train wheels on the tracks as it continued to pick up speed. The steadily increasing clicks were oddly soothing to Rachel, who found herself timing her breathing to them as she calmed down and tried to recover. Sam poked his head out from his hiding place and crawled up to Rachel, nuzzling his head in her lap and whining softly as he looked for comfort from their ordeal.

  “I hope we didn’t forget anything because we’re definitely not going back that way.” David was leaning halfway out of a window as he
looked back at the formerly repaired section of track that was now in ruins. The wooden ties were askew, with one of them having sunk far enough into the gravel that the rails connected to it had physically broken under the weight of the train as it passed over, making it impossible for anything to cross over the area again. Marcus and Rachel instinctively looked around them, verifying that they had indeed loaded all of their supplies onto the train, and thankful once again that nothing of importance had been lost in the APC’s explosion.

  Leonard McComb | Nancy Sims

  6:36 PM, April 24, 2038

  “So, what do you think?” Commander Krylov strode down the center of the brightly lit chamber, lifting his arms and gesturing to either side. The immense room filled the forward portion of the Arkhangelsk, running from the bottom to the top of the ship and extending out to both sides. Rows of large cylinders stood upright to the left and right of Nancy and Leonard as they followed Krylov, gazing around in awe. Radiation symbols were affixed to the tubes, along with long and cryptic metal signs filled with Cyrillic script. One third of the tubes were several feet in diameter while the rest were of smaller sizes all the way down to just two feet. As Krylov continued to lead them forward, Leonard noticed that the orientation and styling of the cylinders changed abruptly. Instead of being nearly featureless and standing upright, the tubes at the front of the chamber were laid out horizontally in large stacks along the outer walls.

  “Torpedo tubes, I assume?” Leonard nodded in the direction of the horizontal tubes and Krylov stopped to see what Leonard was referring to.

  “Ah, yes. Indeed. For both forward and aft launching. Good against targets in the water, though I’m afraid they won’t do much to the creatures on the surface.”

  “What about the nukes?”

  “I think you’re forgetting something.” Nancy spoke from behind Leonard as she peeked through a small window in the side of one of the torpedo tubes, examining the weapon inside. “The nanobots feed off radiation. We’ll destroy the creatures, but feed them at the same time.”

  “Damn… how could I forget that?” Leonard muttered, putting his hand to his forehead.

  “Nancy is correct, Mr. McComb. From my study of the data you provided, if it comes down to us being responsible for destroying the nano-robots and their nexus, we’ll have one shot at destroying enough of them to cripple them before they can start rebuilding themselves. We can only use the nuclear devices on the nexus if we hope to maintain the element of surprise.”

  Leonard leaned up against one of the torpedo tubes, taking his weight off his good leg and the crutches. “Well I would assume you’ve got something non-nuclear that you can use out of the water. Right?”

  Krylov’s blank stare and his hesitation at responding to Leonard’s question gave Nancy and Leonard the only answer they needed.

  “Well shit, Krylov. How’re you fixed for spit?”

  A puzzled look passed over Krylov’s face before he ignored the colloquialism and continued speaking. “Unfortunately, Mr. McComb, you are correct; our only surface-to-surface weapons are nuclear, as was our loadout when we left port.” Walking to a set of locked containers in a corner, Krylov extracted a key from his pocket and opened one of them, pulling out a large gray object and holding it aloft. “We do, however, have this.”

  Krylov threw the object toward Leonard, who caught it and turned it in his hands, examining the writing. Warnings were emblazoned in not only Russian, but in six other languages, including English. “WARNING: HIGH EXPLOSIVES! HANDLE WITH CAUTION!”

  Leonard looked up at Krylov, a thin smile crossing his face. “Nicely done. How’re we going to plant it without getting overrun by the creatures, though?”

  “That, Mr. McComb, will be simple. If you’re ready, please follow me again.”

  Krylov walked back down through the chamber the way they came, leaving Nancy and Leonard standing alone. Leonard threw the explosive back in the crate where Krylov had retrieved it before pulling his crutches back under his arms. Nancy walked next to him as they hurried to catch up to Krylov, who was already at the doorway leading into the room.

  “I think you offended him.” Nancy whispered in Leonard’s ear.

  “He’ll get over it. Besides, he could do to be stirred up a bit when we get there.”

  The walk to the next attraction was shorter than the first. A brief walk up a flight of stairs led them to a dimly lit area near the top of the submarine, an area that seemed oddly familiar to both Nancy and Leonard. Krylov stopped near a flight of stairs that went upwards into a closed hatch, then he pointed at the floor.

  “I believe you left something of yours here, Mr. McComb.”

  The dark metal of the stairs and floor around them was discolored. As Nancy’s and Leonard’s eyes adjusted to the lighting, they both realized why the stairwell felt familiar.

  “You’re going to send your men up on deck to place the explosives by hand?” The disbelief was plain to hear in Leonard’s voice as he ignored Krylov’s poor joke about the dried blood that still coated the stairs. Nancy started to respond to Krylov’s remark, not liking the tone in which he made it, but Leonard stopped her, shaking his head slightly as he didn’t want to make any sort of fuss about it.

  “Of course, Mr. McComb. The canal’s width is such that the men should be able to plant explosives at both sides of the bridge with ease before we submerge to go underneath. If they work quickly and quietly enough, I assume they should be able to do it without drawing the creatures’ attention, yes?”

  “I… guess it’s possible.” Leonard was starting to second-guess the idea of trying to destroy the bridge, wondering if it was worth the risk, when Krylov clapped his hands together and smiled broadly.

  “Well then, it’s settled.” He glanced at his watch, raising an eyebrow as he looked back at Leonard and Nancy. “You’d both be wise to get some rest. We’ll be arriving shortly, and I’ll need you close by when we do. I’ll send a crewman to retrieve you then.”

  Krylov turned and walked quickly away, leaving Nancy and Leonard to stand alone together in the dimly lit hallway.

  “Is it just me,” Nancy said, “or does Krylov seem a bit off compared to when we first met him?”

  Leonard replied cryptically as he watched Krylov disappear around a turn. “Things aren’t always as they seem.”

  Nancy sighed and turned around, trying to remember how to get back. A sign nearby with a small red cross on it had an arrow pointing in the opposite direction from where Krylov had gone. They followed the arrow dutifully, slowly making their way back to the medical ward.

  Rachel Walsh | Marcus Warden | David Landry

  11:52 PM, April 24, 2038

  “Hell yes!” Marcus’s outburst was accompanied by a short jump and a quick pump of his arm in the air. Stretching his arm out, he grabbed Rachel and David, pulling them in tightly for a hug. Overcome with a sudden feeling of happiness and excitement, Marcus’s smile was contagious, and Rachel and David quickly found themselves joining in with the impromptu celebration.

  “I still can’t believe that worked!” David craned his head out the window again. Though they had traveled too far to still be able to see the damaged section of track, he was still marveling over the fact that their repairs had held up long enough to allow them to get by.

  Marcus slapped David on the back and grinned from ear to ear. “Have some faith in us, David! Pulling off the impossible is what we’re meant to do.”

  “Apparently so.” Rachel sat slowly down on the floor and smiled, shaking her head in disbelief. The tension caused by the long ordeal had finally broken, snapping like a rubber band and leaving her overcome with a sense of relief. Despite the fact that they were still nowhere near where they needed to be, they had—against all odds—managed to both recover from Doe’s attack and deal a retaliatory blow that had taken him out of the picture. This realization led to another, more sobering one that quickly erased her smile. Noticing her sudden change in mood, Marcus and David
sat down next to her.

  “What’s up?” Marcus asked playfully, still smiling. “Wish we had left him alive or something?”

  “Of course not.” Rachel’s glare was subtle, but behind it stretched more rage and fire than Marcus had seen before, instantly making him regret the joke. “But with him out of the way, all we’ve got left is the AI to contend with.”

  “Sorry, but isn’t that a good thing?” David broke in, looking at Rachel in confusion.

  “Oh, sure. It’s great. But compared to fighting the AI, dealing with that megalomaniac almost sounds like a walk in the park. It wasn’t, but… well, you know what I mean.”

  Still confused, David stood up and dug into his bag, pulling out a dust-covered bag of chips. “Better one than two,” he said, stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth. “Besides, we’ve got a trump card with Bertha. When we reach the nexus, all we’ll have to do is fire her up and the nanobots should be gone just like that.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Rachel sighed heavily and stood up, stretching her arms and legs as she rose.