by Tripp Ellis
“Well, she earns her keep,” Harlan said, playfully.
“You’d be lost without me, grandpa, and you know it.”
He smiled back at her. “Well, I guess."
Lily rolled her eyes. “He tries to act tough, but he's a big teddy bear.”
“Don't be shy, Commander,” Harlan said. "There's more here than we can eat."
Walker dished up a second round.
“Save some room for dessert, though," Lily added
“Have no fear." Walker smiled.
The table was silent for a moment.
"The Federation hasn't really surrendered, have they?” Lily asked. "I mean, the military is going to respond? That's why you're here, isn't it?"
Walker pursed his lips. "I'm afraid there's just not much left. But we’ll go out fighting, rest assured."
The table was silent again. The sound of silverware clanking against the plates filled the air.
"Have you seen much activity out here? Mechanized soldiers?" Walker asked.
“Plenty of aircraft buzzing overhead,” Lily said. “But we haven't seen any ground forces. We are quite a ways from the city.”
“They’ll come soon enough,” Harlan added.
"They'll secure the Metropolitan areas first,” Walker said. “Then they'll expand to the countryside. You have a plan for when that happens?"
"I've got a hidden cellar underneath the house. It’s stocked with enough food and supplies to last a few years. But I have no desire to live the rest of my days in a hole in the ground. I'll stand here and fight them with every last breath."
“No, pawpaw. You're going to get in the cellar and hide.”
“Oh, to hell with that. At my age, what difference does it make?”
“It makes a difference to me,” Lily said.
“Well, hell. I ain’t gonna live forever. You’d better start getting used to that fact.”
Lily looked upset. She hung her head for a moment.
“I’m sorry, but that’s just the way of things.”
Lily excused herself and took her plate to the sink.
Harlan leaned over and whispered to Walker. "She lost her folks when she was 12. I've raised her ever since."
“Can I get anybody some pie?" Lily called from the kitchen.
“It’d be criminal if you didn’t," Harlan said.
The pie was divine. Walker couldn't remember the last time he had fresh-baked pie. With real blueberries. The food aboard the Revenant was good, but it was nothing like this.
After dinner, Lily showed Walker to the spare room. It was a quaint little room with hardwood floors, a dresser with a vanity mirror, a double bed with an extremely squeaky mattress, and a private bathroom.
"I hope you'll forgive the accommodations. This is a very old house. It was built by the original settlers. Grandpa doesn't care much for technology, so the place is pretty old fashioned.”
“This is more than enough for me. If it wasn't for your hospitality, I’d be sleeping on the ground outside.”
“If you need anything, I'm just down the hall.” Lily smiled. “What do you like for breakfast?”
“I'm not picky."
“Great. I’ll surprise you.” Her eyes glimmered. “Well, good night."
"Good night."
Lily spun around and sauntered down the hall to her room.
Walker closed the door and hobbled to the bed. He leaned his weapon against the wall by the bed, and set his pistol on the nightstand.
He was stiff and sore from the crash, and his skin was black and blue in places. He had taken some high-grade anti-inflammatories to keep the swelling down, along with some painkillers. But it still felt like he had a knife stabbing between his vertebrae in his lower back. Though the bed was comfortable, it was hard to get into a position that didn't hurt. But eventually, he dozed off and got a few hours sleep.
The morning sun beamed in through the windows, and the sound of a rooster crowing filled his ears. It was a sound he hadn't heard in quite some time.
His whole body was locked up by the morning. It took him a few moments to get moving.
The wood floor creaked as Walker staggered to the bathroom. Through the blinds, he caught a glimpse of several mech soldiers marching toward the house.
26
Tyler
The platoon barreled through the passageways, weaving back toward the med center.
In the hallway ahead, a horde of creatures were trying to squeeze through the broken windows.
A cacophony of gunfire filled the corridor, as the squad peppered the giant insects. Faulkner’s machine gun eviscerated their exoskeletons. A hailstorm of bullets from the platoon demolished the first wave of creatures. Their bodies filled the window frames, still twitching. It slowed down the other insects. The bugs had to push the carcasses out of the way to enter the corridor. It gave the platoon enough time to pass by the bank of windows.
The flow of insects continued. Soon, a river of the vicious bugs were snapping at the heels of the platoon.
“Fire in the hole!” Tyler tossed a grenade down the hallway behind the squad as they rounded a corner.
The explosion rattled the entire complex. Bug parts scattered everywhere. Blood splattered the walls.
It didn't matter how many they killed, it seemed like more were always coming. For every insect that fell, ten more took its place. But the grenade had given them enough breathing room to make it back to the med center without having to experience the serrated mandibles of the hideous creatures.
Tyler opened the outer airlock doors, and the team filed in. Once inside, he slammed a button on the wall—the outer door slid shut. One of the creatures lurched between the blades of the doors before it closed. But the force was powerful enough to shear the creature in two.
The beast’s head and upper torso dropped to the floor inside the chamber. It was still alive and chomping. Two of its appendages were still functional. It snapped and clawed, like an ant that had been cut in half. These things didn't die easily.
Tyler unloaded almost an entire magazine into the thing’s skull. Blood, brains, and exoskeleton fragments scattered out.
The creature finally fell limp. Its hideous carcass twitched for a few moments.
Tyler's racing heart began to slow. He breathed a sigh of relief. The platoon was safe now. But there was no telling how long it would take those creatures to break through the door. Over and over, like the beat of a drum, the creatures slammed into the outer airlock door. It was clanking and clamoring as they rammed into it.
The platoon dashed into the med center, and Tyler sealed the inner door behind them. He took a headcount of his team. They had all made it back.
“You people didn't want to listen to me," Horton said. "What did I tell you? Now we’re all fucked.”
“You need to shut the fuck up!” Petrov lunged for Horton, but Donovan held him back.
“Knock it off!” Tyler shouted. He pulled out his PDU and accessed the surveillance map. His face looked grim. The creatures were tearing the dropship to shreds. The whole compound was crawling with those things.
“So, we just call for help, and sit tight until it arrives, right?” Faulkner asked.
“Wrong,” Horton said. “The comm tower is down.”
“There’ s got to be some way to get in touch with the fleet,” Faulkner said.
“You could send up smoke signals,” Horton said. His joke was met with scowls.
Tyler’s face tensed.
“What are we going to do, sir?” Petrov asked. “Those things are everywhere.”
“They’re probably chewing through the wiring on your ship right now” Horton said.
Tyler glared at him. He didn’t know what the hell they were going to do. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to say that. “I’ve got a plan. Just relax. We’re going to get out of here.”
Tyler didn’t have a plan at all.
Petrov was starting to panic. His tough exterior was beginning to crack.
“You don’t have a plan, do you? Grimsby would have gotten us out of here.”
Tyler glared at him. “Grimsby’s dead.”
“Man, we’re totally fucked.” Petrov was in full freak out mode.
“Calm down," Tyler said.
Weston Elliott sat at a computer terminal and started clacking on the keyboard. He tabbed through several screens, monitoring key operational components of the plant.
“I say we hole up in here until a rescue mission comes,” Petrov said.
“I’ll determine our course of action,” Tyler said.
“With all due respect, sir,” Petrov said. “This is your first op. This ain’t the movies.”
Tyler’s eyes narrowed at him.
Donovan could see Tyler was losing the platoon’s confidence. “Ensign Finn is in charge now. When he wants your input, I’m sure he’ll ask for it.”
Elliott’s eyes widened at the display screen. “We may have more immediate concerns,” Elliott stammered.
Faulkner’s face twisted up. “More immediate than being stuck on this damn rock?”
“What is it?” Tyler asked.
“I was running a diagnostic check on the facility. We have a problem with the chemical storage tanks.”
Tyler's eyes narrowed at him.
Elliott swallowed hard. “Viltracium has a boiling point of 32°C. It's the primary chemical agent we used to extract plutrontium from the rock. It's a highly reactive and volatile substance when oxidized.”
“What’s your point?”
“The cooling system on the storage tanks has failed. It's only a matter of time. I give it 4 to 6 hours before it explodes."
Tyler did not look pleased. "How big of an explosion are we looking at?”
“There are 16 million gallons in those storage tanks,” Elliott stammered. “That’s enough to take out the state of Arivada.”
“Why the hell did I sign up for this job?” Faulkner asked. “Somebody remind me.”
Tyler looked over the glum faces of the platoon as he contemplated the next move. The incessant noise of the bugs trying to get into the medical facility was unsettling.
O’Malley had lost his color, and his skin was turning a sickly shade of green. How long would it be before he began to mutate?
“Right now, our only option is to get to Station 5 and hope that freighter works,” Tyler said.
"Just how the hell are we going to do that, sir?" Faulkner asked.
27
Walker
Lily pushed aside the kitchen table and pulled back the rug to reveal a trap door. The hinges creaked as she grabbed the handle and swung open the door.
Walker hustled down the old wooden steps into the dank, dark cellar. His fatigues were balled up under his arm. He was clinging to his tactical vest and gear. His rifle was slung over his shoulder. He hadn’t had time to get dressed.
Lily swung the hatch shut, positioned the rug, and scooted the table back on top of it. Then she peered through the window. Several mechanized soldiers were searching the barn. Several others surrounded the house. She heard boots on the porch, followed by a knock on the door. At least they were kind enough to knock, she thought. She had been thinking they’d probably just kick down the front door.
Her heart was pounding. She took a deep breath and tried to center herself, then casually strolled to the front door. She pulled it open with a disarming smile and tried to act like it wasn't unusual to have mechanized warriors stomping about the property and rooting around.
A biosynthetic soldier was at the door. He was dressed in black tactical gear, along with several other synthetics. "Good morning, ma'am. I’m Lieutenant Drek of the Cybernetic Marines. An unauthorized aerial vehicle was shot down yesterday, not far from here. We believe one of the occupants may have survived. You haven’t encountered any strangers on the property, have you?”
“No. Can't say that I have."
He gave a thin, insincere smile. “May I remind you that under the terms of surrender, giving false or misleading statements to officials is punishable by death."
“I haven't given you any false or misleading statements." Lily smiled.
“We spoke with a neighbor of yours who saw a wounded man heading in this direction.”
“Well, I haven’t seen anybody.”
“You won't mind if we search the house?” It wasn't really a question.
“Go right ahead."
The team of synthetics stormed into the house. The mechanized soldiers were too big to fit through the door and stayed outside. Though they wouldn't have hesitated to break through, if need be.
The synthetics ransacked the house, looking through rooms and closets. One of the synthetics stomped through the kitchen. He walked past the kitchen table, and surveyed the countertops, and the stove. The bacon and eggs that Lily had been cooking for breakfast were burned beyond recognition. The kitchen was filling with smoke.
Lily rushed into the kitchen and turned the burner off. It was lucky that she hadn't already put out three place settings. She opened the window and tried to waft the smoke out.
The synthetics moved upstairs and searched the rooms. A few moments later, one of them called downstairs to the lieutenant, “Sir, I think we’ve got something.”
Drek had a devious glint in his eyes.
Lily’s worried eyes watched him march up the stairs. Drek plodded down the hall to the guest bedroom. The sheets were tousled. Walker didn't have time to make the bed.
“Looks like they had a visitor in the house," one of the synthetics said.
Drek’s eyes lit up. "Keep searching.”
Lily had followed him upstairs to see what the discovery was.
"Where is he?"
“Who?”
“Don't play games with me."
“We didn’t have any guests last night. I slept in the guest bedroom. I couldn't sleep, so I got up in the middle of the night and switched rooms. The mattress is a little softer."
Drek scowled at her. Then got in her face. “If I find that you have lied to me, I will be sure to make your death a painful one." His tone was menacing.
Lily didn't flinch. "There's nothing to find, but if you want to waste your time, by all means, keep looking." She spun around and stomped down the stairs. She went into the kitchen and tossed out the burnt bacon and eggs, and started cooking breakfast all over again.
The soldiers kept rummaging through the house. Drek did a thermal scan, but found nothing. The cellar was thermally shielded, otherwise Walker would have been spotted easily.
Drek toppled over a nightstand in frustration. He decided to break a few more lamps. It sounded like a herd of elephants were stomping about upstairs.
Drek, and the squad, descended the steps and marched out of the house without another word. The mechanized soldiers followed them as they marched down the drive, back to their vehicles, and left the property.
Lily's heart was still fluttering. She breathed a sigh of relief, then pushed aside the kitchen table, pulled back the rug, and opened the trapdoor.
Walker climbed out of the musty cellar. "Thanks for covering for me. I hope they didn't cause too much damage.”
Lily shrugged. “I don't even want to go upstairs and look." Lily's face grew somber. "Is this what life's going to be like from now on? These goons coming and going whenever they please?"
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Walker closed the hatch, and Lily covered it with the rug. Then Walker helped her slide the table back on top of it. “Where's Harlan?"
“He went into town to get some feed,” Lily said as she moved back to the stove.
Walker took a seat at the table and Lily served him breakfast. Afterward, he helped her clean up the kitchen.
“Oh, don’t worry with that,” Lily said. “You need to stay off that leg for a few days.”
Walker was hopping around, trying not to put weight on his wounded leg. Even light pressure sent stabbing pains through his thigh. It was going to take a
few days to get back to 100%, even with the regenerative compound.
But Walker didn't listen. He helped her clean up the rest of the house, as best he could.
Harlan returned from the store, and when he learned about what had happened he was angrier than a hornet. He grabbed his shotgun and wanted to go take on the entire mechanized army himself.
“Pawpaw, what do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to give those sumbitches a taste of my double barrel.”
Lily delicately wrapped her hand around the barrel. “You’re not going anywhere,” she said, taking the weapon away from him.
He scowled at her. “Hell, I bet Commander Walker and I could take at least a few of them out.”
“I’m sure you could.” She leaned the shotgun in the corner.
“You ain’t the boss of me.”
She eyed him sternly. “Pawpaw.”
He sighed. He knew he wasn’t going to win an argument with her. “What’s for breakfast?”
Lilly shook her head. “Bacon, eggs, and toast.”
“Sounds good to me.” Harlan ambled to the kitchen table and took a seat.
“Commander?” Lily asked.
Walker nodded and joined them for breakfast. He gobbled down a plate, and Lily offered to scramble more eggs for him.
“No, thank you. If I eat anymore, I might not fit through the door.”
“Then you’d have to stay a while.” Her eyes sparkled.
“About that… I think it's time I should be moving on. I've already put you two in enough danger as it is."
“Nonsense,” Harlan shouted. "You'll stay here until that leg is good and healed."
“I appreciate the hospitality, but I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“I insist.” Harlan wasn't going to take no for an answer.
“Okay, but just a few days.”
“We ought to get you something a little less conspicuous to wear,” Lily said.
At 6’4”, 250 pounds, Walker wasn't going to fit into anything that Harlan had lying around.
“I’ll pick you up something next time I go into town.”
Lily’s face tensed as she heard a vehicle pull up. She scampered to the window. "Oh, God. What's he doing here?"