The Ruins of Arlandia Complete Series

by William Wood

  Calvin was starting to panic and had to fight to stay calm. He turned around to ask Dev a question, and when he did, he saw three large shapes slowly approaching them down the street.

  He gasped. Dev spun around to see what he was looking at. When he saw the monsters, Dev gasped, too, and started moving backward.

  “They’re moving!” Dev hissed and turned to run.

  “Wait,” Calvin whispered. “Look!” They both stood frozen in fear. The monsters were moving toward them, but very slowly. “What are they doing?” It was mesmerizing.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Dev pleaded. “Please.”

  They walked down the street, passing within a few feet of the advancing monsters. Calvin held his breath as they walked by them. The monsters didn’t seem to notice. Once past, they quickened their pace. Calvin and Dev hurried forward and found a place to hide in the shadow of an overhanging building.

  “This isn’t working,” Calvin said, quickly scanning the area. “We’re not going to find it on the edges. We need to go to the center.”

  “The center,” Dev said. “So they can surround us?”

  Several dark shapes appeared in the gloom down the street in both directions. They were moving faster now.

  “They’re already surrounding us,” Calvin said. “It’s like they’re waking up. I don’t think we have much time.”

  They ran from one building to the next, trying to stay out of view. The streets were filling with large, slow-moving shadows.

  “Calvin, wait,” Dev whispered loudly.

  “Hurry up, Dev,” Calvin snapped. “They know we’re here, run!”

  Calvin checked his weapon again and held it out in front, ready. Dev followed him for several blocks, running at full speed until they reached a round glass building in the middle of a wide open area. There was a single door, which was open. In the middle of the room was a stairwell leading down. Calvin was so scared, he couldn’t think straight. He rushed ahead, plunging down the stairs without even looking at what they were rushing into.

  The stairs were metal, and their footfalls banged loudly as they pounded their way down. At the end of the first flight they reached a landing. A tremendous banging thundered on the stairs above them. Calvin spun around. Four large monsters were pushing their way toward them, moving much faster than before. The stairs shook, and dust trickled down from above. Dev grabbed onto Calvin’s arm and pushed him to move.

  Terror filled Calvin’s brain. They ran down the steps at lightning speed. The thunderous sound that filled the stairway was deafening. The pattern was constant, stairs, landing, turn. Stairs, landing, turn. Calvin found it easiest to grab onto the railing as he was turning each corner, pull himself around, and push off toward each new flight of stairs. He didn’t dare stop and look back. He could sense the monsters were close behind.

  A burst of static filled Calvin’s ears.

  “Calvin,” Astra said. “You have—behind you—closer—” “Astra!” Calvin shouted. “Say again, you’re breaking up! Astra!” She didn’t answer.

  They ran down flight after flight, not pausing, gasping for breath, driven by cruel fear. When they finally reached the bottom, they found a large metal door. Calvin quickly looked at his scanner. The segment was just ahead. They charged through and closed the door. It was very heavy, and they had to use their legs to push—legs that had turned to jelly and were aching. The door shut with a loud click. Calvin found and slid a large dead bolt.

  Sounds of heavy pounding footfalls rushed to the door and stopped. Calvin held his breath and took a few steps back. What were the Terrors going to do? He was snapped back to reality by Dev, who pulled on his arm again.

  “We have to keep moving,” Dev whispered.

  Calvin’s nerves were frayed. He tried to forget for the moment that they were trapped, miles beneath the surface. Another thought occurred to him: What if the segment was too big to carry? How would they get it back up to the surface? How would they get past the Terrors that were now almost fully awake?

  They passed doors on both sides, which were closed. They were in a long tunnel that seemed to have no ending. Unlike the deserted science city above, there were no lights. Only the bright beams of their flashlights cut through the darkness. Calvin kept an eye on the scanner. The segment was straight ahead and a mile away. It was a long walk. Dev kept looking back over his shoulder nervously.

  “Can we take a break?” Calvin asked after they had walked half a mile. “My legs are killing me.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Dev said, but he sounded unsure. They sat down on the floor, each facing a different direction, holding their guns out defensively.

  “It would be nice if we could find an elevator,” Dev said. “I am not looking forward to walking back up the stairs. My legs hurt. And how are we going to get past the monsters. Any ideas? Are we in as much trouble as I think we are?”

  “Hey, an elevator,” Calvin said. “There must be one down here somewhere. You can’t tell me they hauled heavy equipment up and down the stairs. We just need to find it.”

  Suddenly there was a loud bang. Calvin and Dev looked at each other and had the same thought.

  “Time to go,” Calvin said. It was painful to stand. Every muscle in his body was in distress.

  At first, Calvin was content to walk, but after hearing several more loud bangs echo down the hallway, he picked up the pace. He had to force himself to run, to ignore his pain. After a few minutes, the banging stopped, and he began to relax slightly. He even slowed down, thinking maybe the door would hold.

  “Hey,” Calvin said. “We’re gonna make it.”

  Suddenly there was a very loud crash. Dev screamed and ran past him. Calvin pushed himself on, fighting to keep up with Dev. The fear reached hysteria as the sound of heavy footfalls echoed loudly, pounding in his ears.

  At the end of the hallway they were stopped by a locked door. The pounding was getting louder, closer. A loud heart-stopping scream cut like a knife through the air. Calvin and Dev frantically pulled at the door, but it wouldn’t budge. With panic fully in control, they both pulled as hard as they could. Ignoring all pain, they pulled until they heard a loud crack.

  Calvin sensed the Terrors were nearly on top of them. He and Dev pulled the door open just wide enough to get through and then pulled it closed from the other side. It shut with a loud click. Immediately there was a massive bang on the door. Calvin jumped away.

  There was no time to rest. Calvin checked his scanner and led the way through a room full of lab tables. In the back they found a closed door with a bar across it.

  Calvin stopped and stared at the door. In the midst of the banging on the door, dust falling from the ceiling and filling the air, he realized that it took two to open the door, and Astra was not there. Calvin looked at the door and then at Dev. Fear gave way to desperation, and then he felt all of the hope drain out of him. They were trapped in the small lab with no other way out. Small cracks were beginning to appear in the door where the monsters were pounding on it. Dev was shouting something at Calvin, but the noise from the pounding on the door was all he could hear. Calvin felt weak. All of his strength was gone, just like his hope.

  Suddenly there was a loud explosion. Calvin was sure that his life was about to end. He sat on the floor with his back against the door. Dev was on his feet, frantically searching the room for another way out. Calvin raised his rifle and pointed it toward the door.

  “Dev, I could use your help here!” he shouted. He heard Dev yell back but couldn’t understand what he was saying. Calvin focused on the door. Whatever came through that door was going to get the full force of his weapon. Grimly, he knew, that didn’t mean a lot.

  “You’re not getting me without a fight!” Calvin shouted at the door. He set his weapon on overcharge and prepared to fire one massive bolt at whatever came through the door first. Then he took out his pistol and made sure it was ready. Large cracks ripped across the door. Several loud screams wailed outside
.

  “This is it!” Calvin shouted. He was gratified to see Dev standing beside him, pistol ready.

  The door exploded into a thousand fragments. A wave of heat and pressure forced Calvin back and knocked Dev off of his feet. Calvin held onto his weapon tightly but had to turn his face in order to shield his eyes from the flying debris.

  Four large creatures smashed their way into the room. Calvin aimed his weapon at the first one, put his finger on the trigger and started to pull. Before he could pull the trigger, he saw something that made him stop and lower his weapon.

  “Astra!” he shouted, a wave of relief washing over him. “I can’t believe it.” Four large robots were standing in front of him. Astra was on the back of the first robot. Down the hall he could see the bodies of several monsters, lying on the floor.

  Astra climbed down off the robot’s back. She had a small controller in her hand. Calvin climbed off the floor and walked to her. Before he had a chance to say anything, she hugged him.

  “You forgot it takes both of us to open the vault doors,” she said with a mixture of scolding and playfulness.

  “Yeah, I completely forgot,” was all he could say.

  “I did too,” she smiled. “I followed you down as soon as I remembered. I brought a few friends with me. Look, I can control them with this. It’s a remote control.” She showed him the scanner.

  “I don’t mean to be rude,” Dev said. “But I thought you said the weapon segment was down here.”

  “It is here,” Calvin said. “This way.” He led Astra back to the vault door. There was a strong sense of urgency in the air. Calvin and Astra walked up to the door and put their hands on the opener. The metal bar glowed dark-green, and the door clicked open. They pulled the door open and walked inside. There, sitting on a table in the middle of the room was a large, strangely shaped object.

  Astra used her robot control scanner to order one of the robots to pick up the fourth segment and take it out of the room. Astra climbed on to the back of her robot and smiled.

  “Come on,” she said. “Grab a robot. It’s the quickest way out of here.” Calvin walked to the nearest robot and began to climb up on its back. Amazed, he found several places that fit his feet, which he could use to climb up. There seemed to be an indentation on the back of the robot, in the shape of a human body, that he could press himself into. There were two handles on the back, perfect for holding onto. It quickly became obvious to him that he was going to need them.

  Once they were all mounted up, Astra input commands into her controller. The robots took off at a run that almost gave Calvin whiplash. The robots sprinted down the long hallway. Calvin felt the wind on his face. At the end of the hallway, the robots began the climb up the stairs. Calvin caught sight of at least six robots out in front, leading the way. The robots were surprisingly fast, and Calvin was extremely grateful he didn’t have to climb the stairs himself.

  Flashes of light lit the darkness like lightning bolts. Laser beams fired. It was hard for Calvin to see what was going on, but he heard several screams and saw the bodies of several monsters tumbling into the darkness below. At the top, they burst into the streets of the old city. The robots didn’t pause. Once out in the open, their speed increased markedly. They made a direct line for the exit. The rush of air on his face felt really good, even though it was cold, stale air.

  Several groups of robots converged on them, forming a robot shield all around them. For a brief moment, Calvin felt safe. That feeling quickly faded when he looked behind them and saw six monsters chasing them. Six became eight, and then eight turned into twenty. More and more monsters joined the chase with each street they crossed. One of the monsters shot a cable out of its chest. The cable attached to one of the robots in their formation. A shower of sparks and blue electrical currents wrapped around the robot, and it fell to the ground. Calvin could do little more than watch. He wanted to take his rifle off his shoulder and fire at the monsters, but he was afraid to take his hands off his robot. Three more robots were taken down before they reached the end of the street.

  At the end of the street, the robots carrying Astra, Calvin, and Dev ran up the stairs to the balcony. The remaining robots created a barrier around the stairs to give them time to get away. They opened fire with their beam weapons, cutting down the approaching hoard. Dozens of monsters were cut in half. Calvin could hear the screams as they passed through the next door and into the security waiting area. Five robots followed them up the stairs. Astra set them up to cover the doorway behind. The monsters began to pile in immediately. The robots opened fire with everything they had—beam weapons and light laser fire. Astra didn’t wait. She moved the three robots they were riding and the one carrying the fourth segment out of the security room and began a furious climb up the next set of stairs toward the basement of the castle. Calvin was surprised at how smooth the ride was up the stairs. When they reached the top, Astra commanded her robot to close and seal the door.

  Calvin gave her a questioning look. She held her scanner up for him to see.

  “The robots were all destroyed,” she said with a hint of sadness. “None of them made it.”

  Astra had the robots take them up to the top of the tower. The fourth segment was placed outside her room, and she sent the robots to the bottom of the tower to stand guard. Everyone had the same thought: it was better than having nothing to protect them, but they didn’t prove very effective in their first encounter. The monsters clearly won the first battle.

  “How many robots did we lose?” Calvin asked.

  “Sixteen,” Astra answered. “But I’m not sure they were destroyed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve been looking at the scanner readings. The monsters attached a cable to each robot, and if I’m reading this right, they rewrote their code. I think they are being controlled by the monsters now.”

  It took a second for that to register with Calvin. When it did, he took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling.

  “So the monsters increased the size of their army,” he said. “Oh, that’s just great.”

  “Do you think they will attack us?”

  “I hope not.”

  “I’ll go check the computer, and see what they are doing,” Dev said, leaving the room.

  Calvin helped Astra upstairs. It didn’t take long for Dev to return.

  “The monsters aren’t doing much,” he said. “Their energy signatures keep disappearing, but I think the computer is having a hard time seeing them. They’re still surrounding the castle and aren’t moving.”

  “That’s good,” Calvin said. “How do our defenses look?”

  “Everything is still in place. The tanks and robots are still outside and ready. The bombers and fighters are warmed up and ready.”

  “Good,” Calvin said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and the monsters will leave us alone.”

  “I hope so,” Astra said. “But just in case, I put an alarm on the robots at the bottom of the tower. If the monsters try to break in, the alarm will go off.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Calvin said.

  “We agree though,” Dev said. “That we’re just trying to buy time until the storm is over.”

  “Of course,” Calvin said. “We need to get off this planet. I don’t want to spend any more time here than we need to.”

  “OK.”

  They ate a meal together and then went to their rooms to sleep. Calvin lay down on his bed after getting cleaned up. The storm still raged outside, but the sheets of the rain hitting the window lulled him to sleep. It helped that he was exhausted.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

  THE ASSAULT

  Calvin woke up abruptly when a bolt of lightning flashed outside the window. It was immediately followed by a deafening crack of thunder. Since he was wide awake, he decided to get up. He got dressed and walked up to the computer level to see what the Terrors were doing.

  He sat down at the sensor computer. The red dots that
represented the monster robots were all gone. He wasn’t worried. He was sure that they were there. Calvin was sure it was a computer problem. He tapped the screen. Nothing happened. He tapped it again: nothing. He zoomed the view out and back in again. The Terrors were nowhere to be seen. That’s odd, he thought. Where could they be?

  He walked around to check the other computers. The robots were still in place inside the castle. The tanks were still outside surrounding the castle. The bombers and fighters were still in their hangars. Everything was just as it was when he went to bed, except that the monsters were gone. That worried him. A lot. He walked back to the sensor computer and searched for the Terrors again. The computer still couldn’t find them. Then he increased the search range to three hundred miles.

  It took a few extra minutes, but the result was the same: nothing. Calvin looked at the screen not sure what to do. He wanted to think the monsters were gone, but he knew better. Maybe the storm was interfering with the scanner. He got up and went back to his room. He had a feeling in the back of his mind that he chose to ignore. He didn’t see, after he walked away, the flickering red dots on the screen.

  Calvin was able to fall back to sleep without too much trouble. He fell asleep listening to the rain hitting the window. He felt safe and relaxed.

  He woke up several hours later, to the sound of another explosion. He opened his eyes, startled. He assumed it was another lightning strike. The blast reverberated throughout the castle. It shook his bed. Something was different this time. He didn’t see a flash. He had a very bad feeling. Calvin jumped out of bed and put on his clothes as fast as he could. If there was an emergency, he wanted to be dressed for it. He found both Astra and Dev waiting for him in the computer room.

  “What’s happening?” He asked. Astra was sitting at the sensors computer. “The Terrors are attacking!”

  “How many?” Calvin asked, looking at the screen.

  “All of them,” Astra replied. A sea of red dots surrounded the castle and slowly moved toward the tower. Calvin felt a surge of excitement and fear.