The Dark Rift: Retaliation

by RM Brewer

  Looking down the dark tunnel before him, smelling the sweet aroma of his followers, Jimbo told them to be still. There was time and there would be spoils, just not right now. Now was the time to let the horde overhead pass by, unhindered. Once they were gone, his group could refocus on making their way to Gypsum. For the moment, they were safer where they were.

  The sounds of explosions and rapid gunfire rang out from the street above. The creatures overhead roared in anger as the bombs rained down on them. Jimbo could almost feel the bullets tearing through their skin and bone. The noise of their anguish and the war raging overhead went on for hours, the tunnel vibrating with the impact of missiles pounding and pulverizing the pavement. At times, sections of the tunnel would cave in, smashing one or more of Jimbo's followers under a pile of concrete and rubble, severing sections of the horde from each other.

  Manhole covers rattled and a nearby portion of the tunnel crumbled. Jimbo told his followers to move. It wasn’t safe here anymore, but where could they go? He didn’t know which he feared more, the creatures milling above or the military. Either way, it was time to split up. He sent his thoughts to his remaining flock. Retreat as far as the tunnels will take you. Meet near Nellis Air Force Base, where we’ll regroup in the desert.

  Jimbo waded through the slop, coming to the end of his tunnel. Although it was pitch black inside, he could see the wall ahead of him, clear as day. Everything seemed as if it held a reddish hue about it and he recalled the image of an infrared photo he’d once looked at. He wanted to rub his tired eyes but flinched in pain when he touched them, realizing his eyelids were gone. Something else was happening, too. He held up his arm and looked at the hard scales where his skin used to be. Not knowing what he could possibly do about the changes his body was going through, he reached up for the manhole cover. It had been some time since he’d heard any noise overhead. That meant one of two things. Either the military had killed all of the creatures or the creatures had killed all of the military. Jimbo didn’t know what to hope for.

  Instructing his horde to wait where they were, Jimbo pushed the lid up as quietly as he could and shoved it to the side. The fighting had gone on so long that dusk was approaching. Overhead, Jimbo could make out the faint smudge of the Milky Way in the sky, just beginning to brighten. He pulled himself up, poking his head out just enough to see over the pavement above.

  Bodies lay everywhere. Human soldiers, virals, creatures that Jimbo couldn't even find a name for, mutants of all shapes and sizes, blown to pieces, the remnants of which covered the pavement in thick gelatinous goo. Mixed amongst the gore, chunks of machinery, helicopters and military vehicles lay smoldering. This had been a battle of immense proportions and Jimbo couldn't figure out which side had won.

  He pulled himself out of the manhole and crawled up onto the street, watching for movement. Nothing seemed to be alive. Neither the military nor the super virals were anywhere to be seen, save for those killed in battle. The military had probably retreated back to Nellis, but where were the super virals?

  Something popped to his left and Jimbo jumped, contemplating heading back down into the sewer until he saw the fire from the downed jet begin to flash. It seemed everywhere he looked, the guts of machines were leaking fuel and oil onto the pavement, which was running in rivulets, congealing in pools and starting on fire. He watched the fuel trickling across the roadway, heading for the storm sewer inlet. Jimbo gasped. His followers were in grave danger of becoming underground torches if the fire followed the fuel. They had to get out right now.

  Jimbo signaled his flock, concentrating on telling them to keep low, stay out of sight. Run from the city. Looking down the avenue, he watched manhole covers being pushed aside and the remainder of his flock crawling out to greet the carnage. He followed them, creeping along the street, picking up others as they went.

  To his left, Jimbo heard the cry of a human voice. He urged the horde to move ahead without him and went to investigate, following the noise to an area littered with wreckage and the bodies of soldiers and virals, alike. Coming upon a man pinned beneath an overturned car, Jimbo didn't quite know what to do.

  Upon seeing him, the man stopped calling out, his face betraying fear. Jimbo approached him, wanting to take revenge against the military for harming so many in his horde, but this man didn't look like a soldier. He was dressed like a civilian; probably just got caught in the crossfire.

  Thoughts of tearing him apart raced to Jimbo's frontal lobe, then retreated, and Jimbo pushed these horrific visions out of his mind. He surveyed the damage the man had sustained to his leg as the man shook in terror at the sight of him. It could be broken, but it wasn't bleeding too bad. He came to the conclusion that this person was no threat to him.

  Jimbo reached out and grabbed the frame of the car as the man began to plead for his life. He held up a hand, signaling for silence. Then, he sent his thoughts to the man, whose face showed shock and surprise.

  He nodded at Jimbo, signaling he understood that he was being helped. Jimbo told him of the Gypsum Corporation and his plan for revenge, hoping he would understand how things had gotten so out of hand.

  The man continued to shake uncontrollably and covered his face with his arms as Jimbo deftly lifted the vehicle and tossed it to the side. Tell them, Jimbo instructed. Tell them to help us bring Gypsum down. With that, he turned and ran to catch up with his horde. They might be reduced in number, but they had a mission to complete. In the part of his brain that could still comprehend reality, Jimbo understood he would be dead before long. He just hoped everyone from Gypsum would be, too.

  Seeing his horde spreading out over the desert ahead, Jimbo scanned what was left of the town. Save the lone person he'd helped, no life remained. The popping, sizzling, and muffled explosions coming from gas tanks sounded everywhere. An acrid smoke created by burning fuel wafted in the air, mixed with smoldering viral and human flesh, made Jimbo a little sick to his stomach. He turned and raced after his horde.

  As he ran, even from a distance, Jimbo could feel the power congregating at Nellis Air Force Base. It was Gypsum's stronghold, the place where they'd taken the others, where the people who were responsible for his affliction were hiding. He held a clawed fist up in front of his face, blocking out the Milky Way. They'll pay. One way or another, they'll pay, he thought.

  Jimbo slowed as he caught up with his horde. Above him, the sky was speckled with stars, a beautiful night by any standards. The air was filled with the quiet rustling of his followers surrounding him. While they'd already been through a battle, the spirits of the remaining were strong. They were an angry bunch, intent on retaliation, their thoughts all one now, completely focused. Gone were hunger and thirst, love and remembrance, replaced by a ravenous need to fulfill their mutual destiny.

  While he was relieved for the lack of confusion on the part of his followers, Jimbo found himself distracted once again. He could feel the tugging again of a distant calling, one that he was finding increasingly difficult to ignore. It was different from the last time, though. This voice in his head didn't make him afraid like he'd been when he was overrun by the monsters behind them.

  In between the beats of the pulsing draw toward the voice in his head, fleeting memories of what he and his horde had done in the past few days flashed through Jimbo's brain, making him feel all of his emotions simultaneously. Fear, regret, anger, embarrassment, horror over what he'd done and what he was now all mixed together, jumbled into a confusing and confounding bundle of anxiety.

  Respite came as the voice in his head told him to let these things go. There was nothing to be done now except find Gypsum and destroy it. This voice called itself Wending. It soothed his mind, encasing his thoughts in a warm enveloping cocoon, where he held no responsibility for the people he'd killed, the flesh he'd tasted, or the humanity he'd obliterated. He was a victim of circumstance, a result of a Gypsum experiment gone horribly bad. If blame were to be placed, it was on Gypsum, not Jimbo or his horde. He
knew this because Wending told him so.

  Jimbo accepted this pardon for his sins. He would wait for Wending with his flock, where they would join together as one unbeatable force. For the first time in quite a while, Jimbo felt the burden of caring for his followers fall from his shoulders.

  * * *

  "What is it?" Jodie asked, not really wanting Chuck to tell her what he knew of Mei. Nothing about the grim expression on his face made her want to hear what he had to say. For once, she hoped someone would have good news, but there was no good news left in the world right now.

  "It's not good," Chuck said. "She's losing the battle."

  Jodie felt something inside of her heart die a little. All this time, and to come so close, but be too late? It was unacceptable. "You mean the virus is taking her? Is there any way to stop it?"

  Chuck looked off into the distance and rubbed his chin. "I think it can be slowed down if she's sedated. I remember reading about patients in Gypsum's files. They held people in stasis for days just by keeping them in a drug-induced coma. I told her to tell the people she's with to sedate her."

  Jodie looked at Chuck, whose jaw was clenched. "What happened when they woke up?"

  "That's the problem. The transformation was immediate. The only hope for Mei is if we can find the vaccine Gypsum has. If we can't, maybe if I can get to her before she wakes up and give her some of my blood . . . maybe that would work. We have to give it a try."

  Jodie nodded, not quite knowing if there was anything left to say. "She'll never be the same, will she?"

  Chuck shook his head. "With any luck, she'd be able to function like I do, but I'm not sure she would want this life. Actually, I'm not sure this is life."

  Jodie noticed tears in his eyes for the first time since they'd regrouped. Some of the old Chuck was still in there. "What do you mean, Chuck? Look at everything you've done, how many people you've saved. Your life might be altered, but so is the rest of the world. No one, nothing will be the same ever again. This is a new world and we need you."

  Chuck looked into her eyes. "It's a new world, but I'm not sure any of us will be able to live in it. The virals are all over the new world right now. I could feel them moving through the tunnels, extending all over the planet. Who knows what we'll be up against? Just ahead, there was a group of them led by a madman. They were all mutant super virals, really huge, killing machines. They had no other thoughts, other than to murder everyone in their path, including other virals. They almost wiped out a horde just like mine. That's what we'll be up against when we get to Nellis."

  Jodie put her hand on Chuck's arm, feeling somewhat hopeless.

  "So, we'll kill them all when we get there," Fester said. "It's the only way."

  Chuck leaned down to look in the truck at Fester. "I'm just saying, Fester, what if there are too many? I might not be able to protect you. What if my horde can't fight these things?"

  Claire poked her head up front from the back seat. "We have no choice. We have to do what we can. If this is the last stand, then we need to be there."

  Jodie felt the same as Fester and Claire. There was nothing left to lose anymore. "Chuck, from what you read in Gypsum's lab, did they ever concoct anything to kill the virals? I mean, is there any sort of weapon available?"

  Chuck nodded. "It's a gas. It acts like sarin gas would on humans, but it's not harmful to humans, only to virals. It's really cruel, what they did to . . . how they got rid of the people they experimented on."

  "Do you know if they still have any?" Jodie asked.

  Chuck shook his head. "They had it at all of the Gypsum installations, just in case. I don't know what's left around here, but if they have any, it would be at Nellis. It's really the only thing they have left to protect themselves with."

  "So, if the super horde, or whatever you want to call it, is headed to Nellis, we wait until they get there and are gassed," Claire said. "Then, we start the second wave and overpower them."

  "Yeah . . . well, there is one problem with that theory. Actually, more than one problem."

  "What's that?" Jodie asked.

  "The gas. From what I read in Gypsum's files, it will kill me, too. I'm not sure I can be anywhere near Nellis when that happens. And, without me, the horde isn't controllable, which means they'll probably run away and go back to recruiting."

  Killing people, you mean, Jodie thought.

  "Yes, that is what I meant," Chuck said.

  Jodie looked up at him. "Sorry, Chuck. I guess you heard that loud and clear. So, what do you think we ought to do?"

  "I thought you'd never ask," Chuck said, a broad grin forming on his face.

  CHAPTER 15

  Dawn was near as Jodie pulled up to a ridge overlooking Nellis. She parked and turned the truck off, noticing that they were just about out of gas. She wondered if that mattered at this point. Ahead, in the vast desert plain, Chuck's horde crawled and crept toward the fence surrounding the Air Force base. Chuck had instructed them to wait until he could perform some sort of reconnaissance.

  "The others are already here," Chuck said, rubbing the side of his head. "Having all this chatter in my brain is giving me a headache."

  "The others?" Jodie asked. "You mean those super virals you were talking about?"

  Chuck nodded. "Them and a horde I’ve been communicating with. They’re joining us. We don't have much time, though. The super virals know where we are."

  Jodie grabbed the steering wheel and pulled herself up toward the windshield, seeing no movement. Ahead, a group of bland-looking military buildings, a hangar with helicopters parked outside, and a row of military vehicles including a half dozen or so tanks, lay quiet. It looked like Nellis was prepared for war.

  "Are they close?" Claire asked. "What do they want?"

  "They're already near the base, hiding," Chuck said. "I'm not sure if they have any thoughts other than to kill everything. They're just following the military because it's there and they have to defeat it, but now, I think they're waiting for the other horde to show up so they can wipe them out first."

  Jodie turned around, seeing Fester in the back seat, gripping his automatic weapon tightly. "Better ease up on that, Fester," she said.

  Fester nodded. "Just want to be ready." He held his grip, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

  Jodie reached out and touched his arm. "Really. Try to relax."

  Fester loosened his grip and stared out across the desert.

  Chuck pointed toward some lights near a hangar. "They're on the other side of the installation. They'll come from behind the buildings."

  Jodie felt hopeless, knowing they were running right into a viral lair. If they survived it, then they'd have to deal with Gypsum and that wasn't likely to go smoothly, either. She jumped as a sonic boom buffeted her eardrums. "What was that?"

  Chuck smiled. "It's the ship. It's almost here."

  Jodie searched his face for some sort of sign about Mei.

  "She's sedated," Chuck said. "She's still alive." Pausing to look out the window, Chuck closed his eyes. He sighed and turned to Jodie. "And, she's still Mei for the time being."

  Jodie wanted to cry out of pure relief but thought if she did, she would never stop. Not having slept or eaten a decent meal for what felt like days, she was nearing the end of her ability to cope, but she knew she had to keep it together for a little while longer.

  "I have to go to the horde now and tell them what to do.” The expression on Chuck's face was one of sadness, mixed with resignation. "Let's take care of that fence first."

  Jodie nodded, knowing this might be the beginning of the end for all of them. She got out of the truck, thankful to stretch her legs for a moment before following Chuck over to the fence, where he proceeded to punch a hole. Fester came up from behind and tugged on the tear in the fence, pulling back the chain link as Chuck continued to expand the size of the opening.

  "That'll about do it," Chuck said. He pointed at a Quonset hut near the end of the runway.
"Meet me there in a half hour."

  Chuck turned and started to leave, but Fester ran after him, tugging on his arm as he caught up. Jodie felt herself go numb inside, watching the boy holding onto this man who meant so much to him. Chuck pushed Fester away gently and patted his head. He smiled as he said something, then ran from them, disappearing into the hazy dawn horizon.

  "Well, that will just about make your heart explode," Claire said, stepping over a cactus to stand near Jodie.

  Fester dried his face on his sleeve and came back by the hole in the fence, his eyes downcast.

  For a moment, Jodie thought about trying to comfort him but realized it was pointless. There would be no solace for any of them until the battle was over. "Okay, you know what to do. You wait here for the signal, then come and get us." Jodie put her hand on Fester's shoulder. "Remember what Chuck said when he explained the plan. You've got the hardest job staying here, being patient. We need you to get us out after we find Mei, so lay low until we're ready. I'm counting on you to take care of each other."

  Jodie wondered if what Fester and Claire would really be doing is to witness them being torn apart by virals. If that happened, what would they do? If she knew them at all, she knew they wouldn't run away from the battle. They would join it. "No heroics, okay, guys?" Jodie said.

  Looking at them and getting no response, Jodie sighed. "Answer me."

  Fester nodded weakly.

  "Sure, boss," Claire said. "Sure."

  Jodie reached out to pull her two companions into a group hug. "Okay, then. I'll see you in a little while," she said, pulling away. As she neared the fence, she got down on all fours and crawled through the hole, but stopped, hearing Fester call out after her.

  "Here," he said, reaching out to her through the hole in the fence. "You might need this."

  Jodie grabbed what he had in his hand, seeing it was one of the two-way radios.