by Jason Luthor
Now this girl, Sally, her head jerks up, like just her name’s enough to snap her out of some trance she was in. Still can’t see her eyes, but she’s got a tinge of orange all over her skin, like the Creep’s running through her veins. When she sees Jackie, there’s this long second when she just raises her head. I’m not sure if she’s staring at the roof or what, but I can hear her choking, like she’s struggling to say something. It’s this deep gurgling sound, but it starts to become recognizable, almost like words. Her voice is stuck in her throat for a second before she finally looks back down at Jackie. They stare into each other’s eyes for what feels like forever, and everything gets so quiet that I can hear my own breath. Then, the girl says:
“Judge is here.”
Then she fades away, like she was never there.
Tommy’s Recording 19
The halls are a mess. We’ve gotten used to the Creep being thick by this point, but it’s never a good time when you’re more than ankle deep in the stuff and feeling it glue to your uniform. I’m dying in the humidity too. Everything feels like it’s sticking to us, and the worst part is how fresh it all is. We’re literally walking through halls that just had a flood of the stuff barrel through. In my head, I get that there shouldn’t be a difference between new Creep and old Creep. It’s all muscle tissue, skin, and salivary ducts. This stuff’s organic, so it’s constantly re-growing somehow. Still, maybe it’s just me running circles in my head, but the whole time we’re working our way along, I keep thinking that things are more disgusting than normal. Again, I’m pretty sure that’s not scientific. Jackie’s dad would probably think I’m a moron.
Anyway, the detours we have to take to track down Mike put us way outside of where we wanted to be. We try to make our way just using the halls, but eventually we agree that we’ll have to cut our way through some Creep. It’s slow work and tags another day onto our search, but we were already losing a lot of time trying to get to Mike. That’s not Dodger’s fault. Really, she’s half the reason we find our way through as quick as we do. I’m terrible with directions, and the way the Creep tore up the area during the attack . . . I don’t know. It’d probably have taken me twice as long to find my way to where Jackie took her dive, even if what we’re looking for is a gigantic hole in the ground. There’s just no sign of where the fight could’ve happened, especially with all the new halls Dodger takes us through, but that’s the funny part about the Tower. You can turn a corner, and suddenly it’s like everything changes. That’s exactly what happens. After making our way through a huge Creep infestation, we turn a corner, and then we’re staring down a hall that just falls away into nothing. Honestly, the gap’s a lot deeper than I was hoping.
I guess seeing it must trigger Dodger, because she seizes up and puts a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Tommy.”
“I know, but let’s keep it together just a little bit longer. We’ll look into this as soon as we find out what happened to Mike.”
“Right. Yeah, I’m holding it together.”
“Good.” I take a look around and see a door close to where the floor falls away. “I don’t know any other room that Jackie could have tossed him in. She threw him into the first room she could find.”
“Yeah, that has to be it. I’m almost sure I remember seeing it.”
At least from our side, the door looks fine. “No Creep covering it.”
“But what’re we going to find on the other side?”
“Mike.” That’s the best I can tell her before I throw open the door. The problem is, when I do, there’s Creep blocking the entry. It looks like it’s a solid foot thick. “Damn. I’m guessing it punched through on the other end somehow. You got your flame gun on you?”
“You know it. Uh, just a heads up though? I’m kinda running low on fuels cans.”
“Well, me too. It was going to happen sooner or later. I think rescuing a friend’s a good reason to put them to work though.”
“Yeah, of course.” She yanks out her flame gun, and she’s literally ready to fire it half a second later.
“I didn’t realize you were a pyro.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve been one since I saw what fire can do to the Creep.”
“I don’t blame you.” I pull my own flame gun and stare down the barrel. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Mike’s Recording 07
I start screaming because I feel like my entire body’s lighting up. Only lasts a second, but at the same time, I see the wall in front of Jackie explode. Huge chunks of concrete go flying like they’re pebbles, and Jackie’s covered in grey dust as a huge hole opens up in front of her. For a second, it’s impossible to see anything, but the next thing you know, there’s someone standing in whatever light’s still shining. He’s huge. Stands taller than either me or Tommy, and guy’s got a torn hood pulled down over his eyes. Almost looks like the hoodie David Marshall used. Almost looks exactly like it actually, like it’s been sewn into this cape that’s cut up and torn. His clothes are ripped open in places, and you can see his arms are all muscle, like they have no skin. Same thing with his legs. Still, what really freaks me out is the guy’s dragging this massive scythe that just sounds like it’s screaming as the blade drags the ground.
He comes to a stop as the dust’s settling. Whatever’s under his hood isn’t a face. Might be just the thinnest layer of skin over a skull that looks like it’s growling. He cocks his head, and then the whole room is exploding with Creep that burst out of the walls and punch out of the ground. Through it all, Jackie’s rolling and dodging, just seconds away from getting whipped, but somehow she’s finding a way to fire off her gun. This guy takes five slugs to the chest and eats them like they’re nothing, and he’s just laughing and laughing with a voice that I can feel in my chest.
“Jackie Coleman,” he says as he stops for a second. “I may have adapted beyond the threat of gunfire long ago, but at least you’re as talented as my current host remembers.”
Whatever that means, she comes to a stop too, and she’s already sucking wind when she looks up at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Do you not recognize the body? I shouldn’t say I’m surprised. I had to stretch it out to make it fit, but what’s a few broken bones and a bit of snapped sinew? You know very well that the Creep makes regeneration immensely easy.”
There’s a long second where she doesn’t say anything. Maybe she doesn’t believe him. I don’t want to. She notices the hoodie though, and when he finally takes a step into the light, whatever’s left of his face . . . It’s familiar. “David Marshall?”
“That man is dead, but I can feel him,” he taps at his temple. “In here, with all the rest. With everyone else that has died in the Creep. Thousands of lingering voices. Shrill screams in an empty darkness. Memories that go back centuries.”
“What are you telling me? That you took his body? That you’re using it?”
“I’ve been without a host for some time. Very, very few come this deep into the Tower.” He stops for a second and looks up at the roof. “There’s a scientist in here. He was on the verge of experimenting on you once, before the Creep took him in an attack on the upper floors.”
“Dr. Rivera?”
“And so many Cultists who gave their lives to find you. How very brutal of you, Jackie Coleman. What a magnificent killer.”
“Stop it.”
“Of course, there is the one voice that knows you most. The loudest one of them all, screaming into my ear. As you said . . . David Marshall. I can feel his hatred for you, you know.” His face tilts down, and the guy’s voice goes so low that it sounds like an earthquake. “I can feel it burning inside of me, like a festering disease that has no cure and keeps spreading like a cancer. Like the very Creep itself.”
“But who are you?”
Tendrils burst out of the wall and nearly take her head off. Jackie’s barely underneath them and rolling away as the guy keeps talking. “Judge.” Jackie’s moving as the fl
oor starts breaking up, and then the door behind her’s ripping open as a storm of Creep punctures through it. She’s back in the hall, running as he keeps stalking her. “Jury.” Whole roof over her head starts cracking open as more tendrils break through, and next thing you know, the walls around her are splitting open. Nothing but debris and concrete everywhere. It’s too much, and she just keeps dodging, ducking when something tries to take her head or leaping when there’s a tendril swiping at her feet. “Executioner.” He says it, and it’s like the Creep along the wall starts screaming. Mucus and tissue tear open as dozens of eyes push to the surface, just staring at her as she streaks away. Jackie’s in the darkness, and all around her is his voice, just singing out to her from all directions.
“Down, down, to London Town.”
Then it’s like my vision gets stuck for a second. I see Jackie running back up the stairs, but my view starts twisting away until I’m staring dead into this thing’s eyes. They’re empty, just gaps in a skull. He sees me though. I know. I can feel his stare soaking into the room like cold air. “And what. Is. This? A special connection with the Creep?” He’s talking to me. Suddenly, it feels like the world’s collapsing onto my shoulders until I don’t have room to breathe. I try to suck wind, but my chest won’t even move. It feels like I’m being buried alive. “Let’s find out how that connection works firsthand, shall we?” He says it, and then it’s like my shoulders are getting crunched together, like I’m being squeezed by a giant hand. Can’t breathe. Can’t move. The whole room is collapsing around me until my vision’s going dark.
And that’s when the whole world ignites like it’s on fire, and everything I’m looking at disappears. Then there’s just one voice I can still hear, screaming at me. That’s when I feel a hand grabbing onto my shoulder and listen as a flame gun’s burning the air up. When I snap my head to the side, it’s Tommy. He’s there, like he’s had my back the whole time, and he’s shouting, “Mike! Get up. Come on! We need to get you out of here.”
I’m dazed. Don’t know what’s happening, don’t know what I’ve been seeing, but I can feel him ripping me free. The whole room looks like it’s squeezing together as he keeps burning back the tendrils around us. Body’s shaking, and Tommy’s half dragging me, but soon I’m out and collapsing into the hall. Dodger’s in the doorway, still holding back the Creep with her flame gun while I’m like a vacuum that’s fighting for air. The second I’m out, I watch the room collapse like a muscle squeezing down. It crushes closed with a boom that sends dust flying into the hallway, and then we’re all just left panting. Makes me realize it could’ve been me in there, but I’m so out of it, I barely mumble, “What happened?”
“The Creep was trying to make dinner out of you, Mike,” Tommy says through hard breaths. Guess I’m not exactly a lightweight. “What the hell, man? I was screaming at you. It was like you were in a trance or something. What was going on?”
Truthfully though? I don’t know what to tell him. There’s really only one thing on my mind. Only one thing to say.
“We gotta get Jackie.”
Tommy’s Recording 20
Mike wants to head off to get Jackie, and I’m with him. If I thought it’d been safe, I would have gone straight down that hole in the floor and ran after her myself. The thing is, I’ve got to look after the team, so before I can even think about taking us down into the Tower, I’ve got to make sure we’ve gone through a weapons and supplies check. Plus, Mike’s freaking out, and I’ve got to give him a little time to recover from his wounds. While he’s resting, I can focus on scrapping together whatever supplies we can find nearby. Food would be nice, but bullets would be better. At least we’re lucky that way, because the Cultists left behind some weapons when they got out of here. If there’s another positive side to all this, it’s that I’m not sure they’ll keep coming after us now that David Marshall’s bitten the big one.
My only problem is, I’m just worried about the info Mike’s feeding us. I’ve talked about all the stress he’s been under. It’s not like I was the only one. I mean, Jackie was worried about him too. Considering everything he’s been through, I can usually sympathize. Right now though, if Mike’s giving us bad intel, then we’re about to drop down a hole that goes who the hell knows where. I can’t just give up on her though. Jackie might’ve told me to get everyone out of here, and I want to get Dodger somewhere safe, but Jackie . . . Thing is, I have to think like she would, and I know she really believed that you just don’t leave a Scavenger behind. Hell, you don’t leave anyone behind. If there was anyone that thought you should put yourself on the line for someone else, it was her.
Considering what she used to be like, it’s a little ironic.
Anyway, in the off chance she’s down there, that somehow she didn’t die in that fall, I’ve got to take the risk. I already know Mike’s gung-ho about doing this thing, but Dodger’s not completely sold, even if she’s not saying it out loud. Still, she’s willing to go with the plan. I get why. She really admires Jackie and the work Dr. Coleman did, and I think she got a lot out of having another girl tech head to talk to. Plus, I mean, we all did volunteer to come down here into the Deep with Jackie. It’s not that surprising that now we’re about to jump down that hole and start looking for her. Do we have doubts? Yeah, who wouldn’t. That doesn’t mean we’re not ready to whip out our climbing gear and start that drop down.
Again, the only thing that’s really bugging me is the information.
Mike. I know the guy’s got powers or whatever. I know that precognitives can see stuff happening a few seconds before it happens, not to mention he can interact with the Creep. So, if the guy tells me he can see by mentally plugging into the Creep, I’m going to believe him. It’s just, I’m not sure what he’s doing is a good idea. I mean, it’s not as if I know a lot about how that connection works, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard that a person could use their powers to start seeing what the Creep sees.
Again, I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m just saying it’s a big risk, and considering Mike’s head has been out of the game for so long, I’ve just got to take some precautions. We’re going to do this, obviously. I’ve just got to watch everyone’s back and make sure Mike’s not leading us into some deathtrap. Now, I’m not saying he’d do it on purpose, just that there’s a chance he could be accidentally taking us into some place that we don’t want to go. What if the Creep’s messing with his head or something like that? It’s a serious question I keep asking myself. He might not want to take us somewhere dangerous, but I keep thinking, what if the Creep is manipulating him? What if it’s playing with him to get to us?
I don’t have any good answers. Obviously, I hope I’m just stressing out about nothing. To be honest, even if he hadn’t said anything, I know I would’ve gone after Jackie anyway. Maybe the fact that he said we need to do it just gave me an excuse to put everyone at risk. I don’t know. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I hope I’m doing the right thing. I know Jackie would do this for me if I was the one down there.
Anyway, at this point, there’s no use running it through my head anymore. I’m almost back to the room now, and Mike doesn’t need to be hearing me talking about him like this. It kind of makes me hope he can’t, you know, read my mind or something while I’m out here. I really have no idea how his precognitive powers are supposed to work.
“I once knew a girl. Ah, perhaps I didn’t know her. Perhaps I only believe I knew her, because so much time has passed. Or, perhaps the most important thing is that someone remembers her. She loved her family with all her heart. Her brother? Hah, well, there was a love for the ages. I know she would have done anything for him.
Despite its penchant for cruelty, the human race is a fascinating thing. It is equally capable of the savagery I have seen in this place as it is capable of a love that, if I were religious, I would call divine. Of course, love is little more than a few, simple chemical connections. Or so I believed, for so long.
/> When I think of that girl from long ago, I am reminded of this new one, roaming these halls. Then I am reminded of my own son and all that I was willing to sacrifice in order to save his life. All together, it makes me think that I may have been wrong. That, ah, that love truly is something greater than a few signals passing through our neural conductors and hormonal chemicals churning through our circulatory system.
If I had any power to act, I might be convinced to do so. This girl . . . She reminds me so much of the other.”
- An Unknown Recording
ACCUSATIONS
Anna’s Diary
13th of June
I feel as if everything we were celebrating just a month ago has turned to horror. Turned to fear. Turned to disaster. Daddy is gone longer and longer, working to keep the engine running that’s powering the Tower. The recent acts of sabotage nearly took it offline, and while our defenses were down, the lowest floors were struck by Carthaginian thugs. During all the fighting that broke out, hundreds lost their lives. By the time Security drove them back into the streets, the lower halls were littered with the dead. Mummy seems so shocked by it all, she’s gone nearly comatose. She keeps to her room and won’t speak with us, but she cries constantly. At night, I can hear her through the walls of my room. I know she lost several friends in the attacks.