Five Moons of Pluto

by Andre Jeter

  “Damn, girl. You did all this?” Barnes is a tall, African American man with heavily tattooed arms. He looks in awe at the mess.

  “You Barnes?” she asks.

  “Yeah, I’m Barnes. Who are you?”

  Two pilots pick up their unconscious friend and take him inside. Barnes looks on as they pass, and he laughs.

  “Man, you really messed that guy up.”

  “I’m Sergeant Gardner. You have my rodent and arms ready?”

  Barnes’s eyes widen. “Oh okay. They told me you were coming this afternoon.”

  “Well I’m here now. Is it ready?”

  “Yeah, yeah, right over here.”

  Sonya follows Barnes around the corner. They stop at a busy intersection.

  “Everyone is preparing for the big move,” Barnes yells over the traffic noise. “We have too much equipment, gear, and vehicles, and not enough help.” They quickly walk across the street and walk down a street with locked garages. “Most of this stuff is gonna stay here and collect dust.”

  “What if Vultures or somebody else finds this place? A stock pile full of arms and vehicles can support a small army.”

  They stop at a locked garage.

  “Those geeks in Comms department set up a code for every vehicle in this place. And you can only get authorization to input the code through the Gauntlet’s control center. Ain’t nobody using these babies.”

  Barnes punches a few keys on the garages keypad. The steel gate slides up giving us a view of the rodent.

  The rodent is a fast riding military motorcycle used for by soldiers for quick escapes. It’s a great all-terrain vehicle but most riders have a hard time maneuvering the machine. It’s a

  vehicle very few can appreciate.

  Sonya and Barnes step into the garage.

  “I belt this bad boy to your exact specs,” he tells her. Sonya examines the rodent. “Now I must say taking off the extra armor is kinda foolish,” Barnes says. She glances at him, and Barnes clears his throat. “But it’s much lighter, faster, and gives you more miles to a gallon.” He points to the engine. “The engine is now modified to a twin turbo, so you’ll definitely be flyin’ but you gotta slow down on the turns.”

  Sonya nods. “I like it.” Then follows Barnes to the arms table.

  “Okay, you have your standard Mark 8 assault rifle with six mags. You got your P220 sidearm with four clips. Two sonic grenades and two flash bangs.” They walk over to the next table. “You have your issued light body armor and one med kit.”

  Sonya looks at the two tables, nodding her head. She walks back over to the arms table and begins checking her gear. Barnes looks at her as she inspects the arms.

  “How did you escape the Vulture camp?” he asks.

  Sonya stops suddenly. It’s been years since she’s heard that questions, mostly asked by the doctors and therapists. Willis knew not to ask; it’s a soldiers code...a stupid one. You open up to a soldier and they start to have pity on you, look down on you, make you seem weak. Sonya was not about to do that. You just get up and move along, and that’s the only way to deal with the pain. You have to keep moving.

  “I’m gonna need night goggles,” Sonya says.

  Barnes nods. “Sure I got those.”

  ****

  Sonya sits on the rodent savoring the sweet sound of the roaring engine, over three hundred horsepower right between her legs.

  A platform lowers to the ground in front of her. She rides up on the platform just when Willis arrives.

  “Commander,” Sonya says as she salutes.

  He salutes back. “You ready?”

  “Always.”

  “Find Neil and come straight back. Be careful at zone gamma. They can be hostile towards military but they hate Vultures even more.”

  Sonya puts on her goggles. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”

  They exchange a smile.

  “Come back home, Sonya,” Willis says.

  A worker gives her the signal. Sonya nods at him, and the platform rises up. Willis holds out his hand, pointing at his five fingers to make sure Sonya understands her limit.

  Whirring lights and cog wheels from underneath the platform emit their usual noises as it makes its way up. Steel scraping against steel sends sparks flying near Sonya, who looks at them as

  her own miniature fireworks show.

  The overhead door opens and the platform enters a cargo hangar. There is total blackness until a second overhead door opens. Red dust blows onto the platform below. Sonya doesn’t even bother to look up; she knows what’s out there. The platform finally reaches the surface of an abandoned warehouse. Red water leaks from the rusty pipes onto a pile of boxes. Paper flies around, caught in a small tornado. A derelict delivery truck sits by itself in a corner.

  Sonya gets off of her rodent and heads towards the garage door.

  There, a smooth breeze sneaks into a small gap of the garage door and brushes against Sonya’s face. She enjoys the breeze as she pushes the garage button to open the door. When it rises up, Sonya covers her ears from the unreasonable noise it makes, until it finally reaches its destination and stops.

  Sonya steps out into her dying world. Nothing has changed. The summer sun shines in her face until thick clouds provide protection from its brightness and warmth. Buildings are in ruins with red vines the size of telephone wires growing on them. Trees and plants are no longer their beautiful green lush color but are various shades of red. The rich soil of the earth is red with death, continuing on its poisonous quest.

  Sonya gets on her rodent and rides off. The wind feels even better now as she drives on the US-60 at a hundred and twenty miles per hour. She puts all her focus on her brother and the way the rodent handles, better than she expected. Sonya decides treating Barnes to a few drinks should suffice.

  The tracking device beeps. Zone Gamma is only a couple of miles from her location. It was the fourth zone to break off from the United Military, the place where her father died. Other zones soon followed, demanding to be free from the control. Fearing that a civil war would erupt, the military gave the zones what they wanted. However, the zones lost full support from them and it led to many deaths from vultures, hunger, diseases... The civilians of the zones soon realized their grave mistake.

  ****

  Sonya is just a few blocks away from Zone Gamma when she realizes her clothing. Her mind has been clouded by thoughts of Isaac, and she forgets that the civilians of the zone would not take likely to a military dog entering their home.

  Sonya turns a corner and drives down the quiet block, slowly scanning the houses. The homes are aligned nicely next to one another and facing their counterparts. Even the red trees give it a homely feel. Sonya imagines what it must be like to live in such a big home. She’s only

  ever known the bunkers on base, which she shared with her family. When her mother passed, it gave her more space and solitude that she didn’t want.

  A family home the color of mustard yellow catches her eye. She pulls the rodent in front of it and gets off, then she walks up the brick steps towards the white screen door. She gently opens the screen, then the heavier wooden door behind it. Dust and cobwebs have made themselves at home in the old house. Sonya feels warm and tingly inside as if the house is her own and her family will be home soon. It’s a feeling she hasn’t felt in years and she wants to hold on to this sensation for as long as she can. Don’t be silly, she tells herself, and she shakes the thoughts from her mind.

  Reality returns and Sonya makes her way to the master bedroom upstairs. She helps herself in looking through the closet and drawers until she finds a pair of fitted jeans, tank top, and a hooded sweater, for when it gets cold. She also puts on a pair of tall boots that buckle over the top. Satisfied with her new look, she grabs her military clothing and hides it in the closet. Then she exits the house and guides her rodent to the back where she places it in the garage. She puts her sidearm and tracker into her duffle bag and nods contently. N
ow she’s ready to make her journey towards Zone Gamma gate.

  After many hours on the rodent, it feels good to walk. Sonya can feel the muscles in her legs as they grow accustomed to the exercise. The buckle boots are a little too small and don’t help with the walk, but she hopes they’ll stretch out eventually.

  The houses which brought comfort to Sonya are now replaced by the Red Forest. The trees reach high into the sky and block the beautiful blueness with their leaves. Sonya tries to spot an opening among the leaves to get a glimpse of the sky, hoping to see something alluring to get back that warm, fuzzy feeling.

  Engines suddenly roar from behind her, and Sonya turns to see a civilian bus heading towards her. She steps aside, making sure not to step near the forest. The bus pulls alongside Sonya. It’s covered in various steel parts from cars, trucks, and military vehicles. The door slides open and a husky man in the driver seat points a gun at Sonya. His nametag reads: Jake. His big belly awkwardly presses against the steering wheel, and Sonya notices his yellow teeth as he smiles. She raises her hands.

  “You infected?” Jake asks.

  “No.”

  Jake shouts toward the back of the bus. “Hey, doc, come check this—” he pauses for a moment, staring at her breasts— “young lady, will ya?”

  The doctor politely excuses himself as his slender frame passes by Jake. He quickly adjusts his glasses and then gives a quick smile. Then he takes out a device that looks similar to a transilluminator.

  “Forgive Jake,” he says nicely. “He can be quite rude and brutish at times. My name is Arn.”

  Sonya’s arms fall to her sides. “Why am I being stopped?”

  Arn clears his throat and says, “The gatekeepers won't allow you to enter the zone unless you’ve been checked for infection.” He holds up the device toward Sonya. “Do you mind?”

  Sonya steps forward and allows Arn to scan her eyes with the device. She breathes deeply, admiring his attractive blue eyes and the fragrant scent of citrus. His facial skin is smooth, too smooth in fact for someone his age. It’s not unlikely that he had some kind of laser hair removal done to his face. Someone who cares so much about his looks couldn’t possibly survive in the Devil’s Earth alone.

  “She’s clean,” Arn says as he takes the device away from her. He turns and looks at Jake who is now holding a magazine, vertically entranced in his pornographic world. Arn whistles and Jake, not caring who notices, slides the magazine underneath him. Sonya picks up her duffle bag.

  “After you,” Arn tells her.

  Sonya steps onto the bus looking at Jake as he smiles at her. She can feel his aura around her, wanting to tear her clothes off and taste her body. Sonya shivers as she takes her

  seat behind him.

  “Glad to have you aboard, honey,” Jake says, then he laughs softly.

  Sonya walks past him, conjuring up all her strength not to smash his face into the steering wheel. She wipes sweat off of her forehead, but more of it magically appears and races down the back of her neck. The door closes.

  Zone civilians with guns—most likely the Zone’s form of security—are seated in the back of the bus. One of them gives Sonya a quick look and then returns to his conversation. Other people are scattered around the bus trying their best to stay cool by fanning themselves or constantly wiping their foreheads, and some just sit there accepting their hot fate.

  The bus begins to move and Sonya grabs onto one of the ceiling bars. With the windows open, she can feel a cooler breeze washing over her. She closes her eyes and enjoys the moment to its very end.

  The bus stops at the Zone gate, a combination of steel, wood, and various machine-like parts. Jake and the gate guard nod at each other with an additional quick laugh over a little joke. The guard signals to another guard high in the tower. The metal doors scrap along the floor as they open, and the bus proceeds through a dark and narrow tunnel. The headlights activate and Sonya looks out the driver’s window. Even with the lights, it’s hard to tell where the tunnel ends.

  “Roll up the windows,” Jake says over a loudspeaker. “We’re going through decontamination.”

  Everyone begins pushing buttons on the window sill. One by one the windows rise up and lock. A blue liquid shoots out from hundreds of tiny holes, covering the windows of the bus. From above, Sonya hears the liquid hitting the metal. It’s a useless waste of water and time, she thinks to herself. Everyone knows that the virus cannot bond to inorganic material, but people in the Zone are very cautious. If one person is infected, all are infected.

  An old lady taps her fingers on the empty seat next to her and smiles at Sonya. Sonya accepts her offer and moves over to sit next to the old lady.

  “What Zone are you from?” the old lady asks.

  “Zone Phi,” Sonya says.

  “Oh my. How did you manage to escape?”

  The old woman is fascinated to find out how Sonya made it out alive from Zone Phi. Sonya wants answers of her own. Asking the right questions without revealing she’s an imposter will prove to be tough without enough information on what happened to Zone Phi. Sonya knew from Sentinel Intel that her zone was known for its medical research and development. Roughly two thousand people lived in the Zone, mostly military, so no revolt ever took place. Vultures knew the rewards of taking over Zone Phi but they also knew that it would cost them a very high price. Zone Phi was one of the most well fortified zones. It was the only zone to have a nuclear blast dome.

  “It’s very difficult to talk about,” Sonya says proudly, thinking of her espionage. “Have you heard of anyone else making it out?”

  “No, you're the first. I did however hear that no bodies were found. It was if they vanished into thin air. They sent in a team from here but they couldn't find anything that could have caused the tragic event...” Her voice trails off, and she looks out through her window, although it’s still covered in blue liquid. “Poor souls,” she whispers.

  The bus soon pulls over to the side of a huge depot building. Everyone exits and lines up in front of the doors of the building. The depot extends out from dome steel walls. Up high on the glitzy walls are spots where metal has been replaced with darker, dull steel. Guards are posted around, some giving orders to other guards and some keeping a close eye on the new group. The doors to the depot open and a guard steps out. Big and muscular, he holds out a scanning gadget.

  “Make sure you all have your zone cards out,” he says, his voice low and demanding.

  Sonya searches inside her duffle bag for her imaginary zone card when she touches the cold metal of her sidearm. She wraps it up in the hooded sweater and continues her act. So far four people ahead of her have entered the depot. She looks back and sees the two men from the bus. One of them blows her a kiss. Sonya returns the gesture with her middle finger while her

  other hand runs over the med kit. She opens it up and takes out a pill, then swallows it. She closes her bag resumes her performance.

  Three people are ahead of her when she begins to feel the affects of the pill. Her hands begin to shake and she falls to her knees. The people behind her step back. Arn sees her as he is about to get back on the bus and rushes toward her. Sonya vomits white liquid and chunks on the floor. Arn grabs her by the arm and yells for additional help. A guard runs to her and grabs her by the other arm and together they lift her up. She stumbles as she walks, her vision blurry, her head spinning. The voices are slow and unintelligible until finally she sleeps.

  ****

  Sonya opens her eyes and looks around the huge room. She sees rows of beds, some occupied but mostly they are empty. She sits up and feels a sharp pain in her arm. A blinking circular chip is attached between her forearm and her bicep. She looks at the hanging square machine beside her bed with repeating lines going up and down and various numbers. As far as she knows, she’s all right. A cold wind from the air conditioner causes Sonya to wrap herself tightly with the blanket, then she realizes someone took her clothes off and she wraps herself even tighte
r. She hears footsteps and sees Arn approaching her, and she balls herself up.

  “How are you feeling?” he asks.

  “Fine. Where are my clothes?” Sonya says, looking around to find them.

  “Your clothes and belongings are underneath your bed.”

  Sonya quickly looks under bed and finds her duffle bag and clothes.

  “Don’t worry,” he tells her. “Two of our female nurses changed you while you were unconscious.” He looks at his tablet and brushes his finger across the screen. “I see no problems. Blood pressure is good. You have just a tad bit too much protein and iron in your blood. All in all—” he looks at her and smiles –“you’re fine.” Then he puts his hand on his chin and rubs slowly. “However we took a sample of the liquid you regurgitated and found various amounts of chemicals that irritate the digestive tract. They’re non-lethal in small doses, so I would like to run some tests to—”

  “I really don’t have time, doctor. I feel better really, and besides you said so yourself that you see no problems.”

  “I see no problems now. Who knows what may come after the tests. You can never be too

  careful.”

  “I’ll take my chances, doc.”

  Arn looks at her. He doesn’t have time to argue and he knows he’ll lose anyway. “Fine,”

  he says. “I’ll write up a discharge report. The nurses were a little concerned about the scars on your back.

  Sonya glares at him. “Why are they concerned?”

  “Well... they noticed while cleaning you up that the scars on your back were never stitched up. They told me the scars were pretty brutal and that many were so deep they could have killed you.” Arn sits down on the edge of her bed. “If you need someone to talk to, I—”

  “I’m fine,” Sonya says. She scoots back toward the headboard and stares down at the space between them.