by Jason Wilcox
“I said you can’t come in here!” the man yelled again. Mauldrin opened his eyes. Pain throbbed in his head, but it was more bearable this time. Espo was holding him but didn’t have his helmet on. They were at what looked like a medical unit, and a doctor stood in front of the door keeping Espo from entering.
Espo yelled something and then pushed the medical provider out of the way. With a kick, the door smashed in. The room had a couple of medical personnel huddled around a computer. Wasting no time, Espo laid Mauldrin on a medical bed. Pain increased as his head hit the flat surface and he closed his eyes.
People began yelling, but Mauldrin struggled to follow what was being said. His mind was spinning and the throbbing pain persisted.
“Enough!” James’s voice quieted everyone. “He needs medical care. Can you help him?” Mauldrin knew when James spoke like that, it was no time to mess with him. The throbbing slightly died down, so Mauldrin peeked to see what was going on.
One of the men, who looked like a doctor with his white coat, walked over to the side of the bed. “Is he human?” Mauldrin winced at the comment. The doctor was right. He wasn’t sure how human he was either.
“Of course!” James snapped. Espo stayed next to Mauldrin and eyed the doctor. Mauldrin was a little worried that Espo might attack the doctor.
The doctor’s jaw muscles flared. “Fine. Can you at least tell me what’s going on with him?”
“His head. Right?” James looked up at Espo while tapping his own head, and pointing at Mauldrin. Espo nodded.
Putting a pad in his pocket, the doctor leaned over Mauldrin and tilted his head back and forth. “He has dried blood on him and dark black spots, but I don’t see open wounds.” He looked to one of the other medical providers. “Get a scanner. We need to see inside.”
As the pain began to diminish, Mauldrin pushed to sit up, but Espo pushed him down. He said something that Mauldrin couldn’t understand.
A foot long black tube with lights on it was handed to the doctor. He pushed a button and it made a high-pitched squeal. A small screen dropped from one side of it and the doctor lowered it to Mauldrin’s head. Waving it, he stopped right above the forehead.
“Not only do I see nothing wrong,” the doctor began. “I would have to say, I’ve never seen anything like this. His brain is functioning at a level that…that…” He swallowed once. “It’s processing at a rate I would approximate is about fifty times faster than the average brain.”
“Great. Now move. I’m fine,” Mauldrin growled as he pushed the doctor out of the way and sat up, moving fast before Espo could stop him. He was feeling fine. The head throbbing and pain was gone. “Let’s get back out there. I’m not going to lay in here when they need our help.” He jumped off the bed, and Espo grabbed him by the arm with his metal clad hand.
“It’s over,” James said. A thunderous boom cut him off before he could say anything else. Cupboards and equipment rattled, and the floor shook. Everyone looked up as the lights flickered. “Really, Ca…Mauldrin, it’s over. They were able to patch the hole and the dark souls are cleared out, thanks to your friends here.”
“What about the one that broke through, the bigger one?” Mauldrin asked, tapping Espo’s hand to get him to let go. Another explosion shook the room.
“You didn’t see?” James wrinkled his brow. “Tagen.” He pointed to an empty space next to Espo. “He killed the thing.” Tagen appeared next to Espo. Looking down, Espo laid a hand on Tagen’s back and patted him.
Espo said something, but once again, it was in a language that Mauldrin couldn’t understand.
“I’m sorry Espo, I don’t…” Mauldrin was cut off as the two other Knuckle Draggers walked in.
“He says he is starting to like that little fellow,” Smitty said as he pointed to Tagen. “I know I am. I might have doubted him in the beginning, but he does not mess around when it comes to protecting you.”
Mauldrin looked over at Tagen. An emptiness that he couldn’t explain seemed to be in his heart. There was a desire to feel honored or possibly grateful for what Tagen had done, but there was nothing. He knew what it would feel like to have the emotion, but he just couldn’t produce it. It was as if there was something blocking him from emotions. Life felt heavy.
Another explosion shook the room and equipment that hung on the walls fell to the floor. The doctor braced himself on the closest counter.
“If everything’s fine and I don’t need to get out there, then why are those blasts still occurring?” Mauldrin walked towards the door and looked out. Soldiers were running up and down the hallways. No one stood still but those in the room.
“It’s fine Mauldrin. They haven’t gotten through the barrier. They’re just hitting us with explosions.” James walked up to his side and leaned against the wall.
“Why isn’t the General sending out troops?” Mauldrin turned to James, feeling an intense anger coming on.
“If we go out there, we’ll get slaughtered. There’s no way he’s going to send anyone,” James explained. “They’re strengthening weak areas of the barrier as we speak. We’re trying to keep them out.”
“Ridiculous!” Mauldrin could feel his blood pressure rise. “Boys.” He looked back to the Knuckle Draggers. “Let’s finish this.”
“Mauldrin.” James gave him a stern look. Mauldrin gave back an equally stern look. James shook his head and looked Mauldrin up and down. “Do you at least want another set of glasses before you go?”
Mustering a smile, Mauldrin looked at him, but there was no true feeling behind the smile. It was empty.
“Let’s go.” Mauldrin waved to the others.
James kept up with him. “You’ll need me to get you out the gate; otherwise they aren’t going to let you out.”
“That will be great.” Mauldrin looked back at the Knuckle Draggers. Smitty and Curt walked right behind him, Espo and Tagen walked side by side in the back.
They quickly made their way to the gate which was vacant of dark souls. They were down at the other end where they had broken through twice.
As they approached, Tagen came beside Mauldrin. “You should get the sword before we go. It’s more powerful than the guns.”
“No,” Mauldrin responded abruptly, causing James and some of the guards to look over at him. The sword would be added weight. Right now wasn’t time to be fooling around with a weapon that he wasn’t sure he could pick up and use. With the response, Tagen let out a growl and walked back to Espo.
At the gate, the guards surprisingly didn’t ask questions as James opened the gate. They went out leaving James behind.
“Let’s move up into those trees on the ridge,” Mauldrin said as the gate closed and the barrier was re-engaged. Tagen had an annoyed look on his face as he gave a nod and vanished, going into shadow form.
“We will follow you,” Smitty’s robotic voice came over his translator.
Not wasting time, Mauldrin moved fast, faster than a human could move. Fortunately, the Knuckle Draggers where able to keep up using their robotic armor. They ran through the trees and got behind Hermue’s army, where they weren’t looking. From where they were, Mauldrin could pick out three heavy guns that had to be what they were using to shoot the explosives. Each one was an equal distance from the other.
The closest heavy gun to them shot off another round. A slight breeze hit them after the loud explosion, carrying a strong smell that burned the eyes. If Mauldrin didn’t know better, he would think they were using acid in the explosives.
“We need to take out those guns.” Mauldrin drew back to join the rest of the group and discuss a plan.
“How do you propose we do that?” Smitty asked while holding up a finger and moving it as if he were counting troops. The numbers were intimidating, and they circled around the large guns, waiting for their moment to start the fight again.
“Any ideas?” Mauldrin turned the question back to him.
Curt rustled around for a moment. “Could we crea
te a diversion, like half of us go to the other side so they’ll come after us and the other half takes out the guns?”
“Too many of them, it wouldn’t work.” Mauldrin stared at the dark souls and humans. There were even some of the large dark souls interspersed along the barrier. They were slamming against the barrier as if they had to get in to kill.
With a click, Smitty took his helmet off and talked to Espo about something. Mauldrin had to be patient and wait to have someone explain what was being said.
Another large gun sent off a blast which exploded into the barrier. Black smoke rose into the air.
“How about I try to go down there and sabotage the guns?” Tagen spoke, coming out of shadow form, standing next to Espo.
Seeing Tagen, Espo laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile, followed by thumbs up, but kept talking to Smitty. Obviously, whatever Tagen did to that dark soul left a strong impression on Espo.
“Too dangerous, Tagen. You don’t look fully like a dark soul anymore.” Mauldrin tapped his foot while looking around. There had to be another way.
With clicks and beeps, Smitty put his helmet back on. “Espo has a good idea.” He pulled his gun and pushed a lever up on the barrel. “Their ammunition is piled high around the guns. All three of us are carrying guns that can produce explosives and blow those guns apart.”
“You wouldn’t be able to shoot one at a time,” Mauldrin began, squinting from the sun reflecting off Smitty’s armor. “They would be on us too quickly to get to the next guns.”
“We’ll have to shoot all of them at the same time,” Smitty explained.
Mauldrin looked around; it was a hot sunny day. “If we synchronized it just right, it might work.”
“You will not be a part of this,” Smitty’s machine voice was monotone, but Mauldrin knew if he could hear his tone, it would be stern. He was about to argue, but Curt spoke up first.
“Can we get close enough to hit the guns? Those creatures are spread out.”
The click came again as Smitty took his helmet off. He started speaking and Curt nodded. As he finished speaking, he looked over to Mauldrin. It was the first time Mauldrin really got a good look at Smitty. His face was worn but strong. His dark hair was short and flattened by his helmet. Stern dark brown eyes disappeared as he put his helmet back on.
Mauldrin looked at the three of them. Espo wouldn’t make eye contact. “I’m coming with you,” he demanded.
“I need you to stay here and keep our way out cleared.” Smitty looked back at the others and pointed to their guns. Both of them pushed the switch on the barrels. Mauldrin stared at him for a moment. He couldn’t tell if Smitty was trying to find an excuse to leave him or if he really needed Mauldrin to stay to keep their way out open.
“This will not take long.” Smitty moved a couple of steps up the hill. “When we blow these things up, chaos will follow. We will be right behind you, get to the gate.” He turned and took another step but stopped short and looked back. “Tagen, keep him safe.”
Espo gripped the dark soul’s arm and said something in his own language. Mauldrin could guess it had to be something along the lines of good luck. All three moved out following the hilltop but stayed hidden.
Impatiently, Mauldrin plucked a leaf off a nearby bush slowly tearing each portion apart while keeping his eyes on the hill. He watched the trees, waiting for the moment the Knuckle Draggers would sneak towards the large guns.
The leftovers of the leaf fell to the ground, as Mauldrin dropped them in reaction to what he saw. All three Knuckle Draggers were equally distanced apart and running down the hill with incredible speed. Espo was the farthest away, followed by Smitty, then Curt. They headed for the mass of soldiers and dark souls.
“What are they doing?” Mauldrin couldn’t hold back. “They’ll be seen.” A couple of the dark souls noticed and headed up the hill towards them.
Smitty was the first to encounter one. He didn’t miss a beat. With the butt of his gun, he slammed the dark soul to the ground and kept moving. The dark soul was back on his feet and tailed Smitty. Another dark soul clipped Espo’s legs and knocked him over. More went after him, seeing a vulnerable target, but the other Knuckle Draggers kept moving. They didn’t see what was happening.
“Espo!” Running as fast as he could, Mauldrin was trying to get there with Tagen right beside him. Surprisingly, he wasn’t trying to stop him. More dark souls were piling on top of Espo. Their screams brought attention to the scene.
Tagen passed Mauldrin and got to Espo first. He nailed two dark souls, knocking them back from Espo who jumped to his feet.
Two loud bangs rang out as Mauldrin closed in on helping Espo. He snapped off a couple of shots killing two dark souls. As his finger moved to pull the trigger again, a force hit him hard, knocking him across the ground, followed by a thunderous clap that shook the ground. Debris flew past him, and he could feel the heat of the explosion.
Leaves and ash floated to the ground as he picked himself up. His ears were ringing and his head felt jarred. Two large black clouds of smoke worked their way upward. The ground was covered in trees, debris, and bodies. A number of the bodies were starting to move, others appeared to be dead. He couldn’t see Smitty or Curt.
Looking back to where Espo had been, Mauldrin couldn’t see him or Tagen, just a pile of dark souls and a couple of humans. He tried to take a step, but his legs gave out and he collapsed. His head was still spinning, and blood oozed down his hand from scrapes and scratches which quickly healed over.
Moving a little slower, Mauldrin pushed himself up. The ringing finally stopped. A large piece of ash fell down on his face, sticking to his nose. Using his finger, he flicked it off. A scream rang out close by. He turned quickly only in time to see a dark soul blasted before he could jump on him.
In the distance, he could see Curt, his metal armor blackened by the blast. He lowered his gun to his side and started walking towards Mauldrin. Another dark soul ran at them, but Curt quickly blasted him as well.
Espo could also be seen in the distance fighting through dark souls. “Curt!” Mauldrin yelled, pointing towards Espo who was being surrounded by creatures. Tagen was still nowhere in sight.
Curt dropped to a knee and with a pop, a large bullet flew towards Espo, landing at the outer rim of dark souls and humans that were trying to close in on him.
The blast knocked many of them over and distracted the others. It allowed Espo to push through, and he shot off a bullet that flew through the air and exploded on their large gun. This time, Mauldrin was ready. He dropped to the ground just as the shockwave hit him. The thunderous clap shook the ground.
Before he could push to get up, a strong hand grabbed the back of his armor and pulled him off the ground.
“Let’s move,” Curt said.
Mauldrin hit his hand off and spun around looking at the destruction. Smitty and Tagen were nowhere in sight, but he could see Espo on the ground.
“We need to go,” Curt spoke again, grabbing Mauldrin’s arm and pulling.
“No. They’re still out there. We have to save them,” Mauldrin tried to get him to let go but couldn’t break the grip.
“I was ordered to get you safely back.” Curt gripped him harder. “Either you come with me, or I will pick you up and carry you back. The others can take care of themselves.”
“So can I.” Mauldrin tried to pull away and Curt moved to pick him up. “No. Stop. I’ll go with you.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to fight Curt.
Curt moved back and held a hand out for Mauldrin to lead the way. Reluctantly, he ran towards the gate with Curt beside him. When they arrived, there was only one guard standing on the other side but not the one that let them out.
“Let us in,” Mauldrin yelled, but the man just stared. “I don’t think he’s going to let us in.” He turned to Curt. “We should go back and help Smitty and Espo.”
“No.” Curt walked towards the gate and banged on it causing the guard to pull u
p his gun. “Get James over here,” his robotic voice demanded, but the man couldn’t hear him.
“You’re not loud enough.” Mauldrin looked back to where they had blown up the guns and debated trying to run for it.
“GET JAMES!” Curt turned up his volume, causing Mauldrin to plug his ears. The guard on the other side jumped back pointing his gun at them but still just stood there staring at them. Curt hit the barrier again and the guard ran off.
Espo could be seen in the distance making his way towards them. He blasted a couple of dark souls, but they kept coming. Mauldrin scanned the area, looking for Tagen, but there was no dark soul with white streaks.
With what sounded like an air lock, the barrier and gate opened. James and a number of guards stood by.
“The barrier’s been cracked,” James said as he walked towards them. “Those explosions cracked an entire side of the dome. Luckily they haven’t gotten through, but the General is extremely worried.”
Mauldrin wasn’t sure what to say, he hadn’t expected the barrier to be damaged in their efforts to destroy the guns. He let out a deep breath and rubbed his hands.
“Are they going to be able to fix it quickly enough?” Mauldrin asked. “They should have time. The large guns have been destroyed.”
“Come in. Let’s talk in here so we can close the gate.” James waved for him to follow.
“Others are still out there.” Mauldrin saw that Espo was almost to them but still couldn’t see Smitty. “Where’s Smitty?” he yelled as Espo came into hearing range.
Espo’s face had bleeding cuts. He said something to Curt that Mauldrin couldn’t understand.
“He doesn’t understand you, hold on,” Curt took off his helmet and spoke with him then put his helmet back on. “He saw Smitty and figured he would come back here.”
“And Tagen?” Mauldrin asked, looking past Espo.
“I’m here,” Tagen growled as he appeared next to Espo, his eyes blazing.
“Did you see Smitty?”
“Why won’t you use your power?” Tagen began, walking up to Mauldrin. “Why won’t you get the sword and use it?” He tightened his fists. “Why do you insist on letting others get hurt when you can prevent all of this? You could kill all of them. I’ve seen you do it before.”