That was exactly what Sky wanted. She followed it, stooping through a tunnel before heading around a corner. Disappointingly the trail dried out. She hesitated but then proceeded in the same direction till she came to a new junction. A four-way junction… She glanced down all possible routes, but nothing stood out to her.
She bit her lip and sighed to herself. Now which way?
A small sound caught her attention, a gentle and quietened footstep. It was coming from her right. She took a second to un-holster a pistol and then headed towards it. This tunnel was larger, a stream of fresh water flowed down its middle. Sky made sure not to splash and to give herself away. Again there was a sound, a small metallic clang. Like a foot on a ladder. Sure enough in a few paces more she spotted a ladder. Whoever she was following was in the vertical tunnel.
She stepped close, hesitated and sure enough she could faintly hear someone’s breathing.
“I know you’re there, why are you following me?” the woman yelled.
It echoed down and reverberated in the tunnels around Sky.
“I’m not here to harm you, I work for the company…” Sky offered after a moment.
“Why aren’t you with the others…?” the woman returned suspiciously.
“The others? You mean the Alpha crew?” Sky questioned. It hadn’t even crossed her mind the fate of the Alpha team. Where were they? Why hadn’t she found a single trace of them? Had the intruders attacked them? Or had they been surprised, and then defeated, by the infected employees? It seemed unlikely that a team of specialist soldiers would be so easily overwhelmed by the infected occupants, but there was a lot of unlikely scenarios playing out upon this island.
“We saw them land, but they weren‘t interested in helping…”
That surprised Sky. Hadn’t they had the same mission directives as she?
“Well I’m not part of the Alpha crew, I’m… the back up…” Sky offered.
There was a pause.
“The back-up…? Just you?” there was an edge of sarcastic doubt to it.
She had good reason to doubt it. For Sky was only one woman and it didn’t sound like much backup. The truth was there wasn’t anybody else available to accompany Sky. And she liked to work solo anyway.
“I’m here to find out what happened,”
“Containment?”
“Rescue. Containment. Investigation. They’re my mission directives…” Sky deliberately put the word rescue first like it might allay the woman’s fears.
“How do I know you’re not one of them?”
“Who? The mercenaries? The ones who came to the Island?”
“So you know of them, you know a lot…” again that bitter edge of doubt.
“I’ve encountered a couple of mercs sure, just like I’ve encountered the infected citizens… Of course I‘m going to know things, its why I came here… But I don‘t know how any of this happened… Do you?”
There was a pause again.
It dragged on for a few moments, then eventually Sky realised she would have to add to the conversation. “Look. You’re gonna have to take a leap of faith, if I was one of those mercs I wouldn’t be scurrying through the sewers chasing after some woman. And if I was one of the alpha team then we‘re on the same side… I‘m not interested in hurting you,”
“But its not just me is it, you’d be after the rest of us…”
“There’s more survivors?”
The woman realised she’d spoken too much. A pause in the conversation took hold, neither woman was sure how to fill it. The woman on the ladder felt she’d spoken way too much and Sky had so many questions she was mute.
“I’ve fixed the communication dish, it’ll be back online within three hours…” Sky offered an olive branch.
“Impossible. I’ve checked it and there’s no way to fix it. The internal system is corrupted.”
“No, there was a device that was disrupting the signal and making some form of blocker, a strange black box I‘ve never seen before…”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
The dogged suspicions suddenly hit the limits of Sky’s tolerance.
“Look. I don’t expect you to believe me on everything I say, but I’m not gonna stand here for the rest of time arguing with you. I was looking for help getting inside the main-lab, but if you’re not gonna give me the benefit of the doubt I’ll find some other means…” Sky icily concluded. She turned to walk away.
There was a brief pause while the woman considered her words…
“The main-lab is blocked by a group of the zombies,” the woman finally spoke.
“So I’ve seen,” Sky stopped mid-step.
“It’s also locked by key card. It takes special authorisation to get inside…”
Sky thought of the key card in her pocket. It was probably going to lack the relevant security clearance for the main-lab. A lowly communications officer wasn’t going to have the rights to access the main lab.
“Is there another way inside?” Sky probed.
“Not that we’ve figured out…”
Sky sighed. She would need to procure herself a high-level key card, from somewhere…
There was the sound of footsteps and then the brunette woman emerged from the tunnel. She turned and glared at Sky for a moment. After a good thorough scan, the woman’s expressions softened slightly.
“What do you want from the main-lab?” She probed.
“I want to retrieve the data from the main-labs, and figure out what happened here. I overheard two mercenaries discussing a woman who had holed up there. It seems she is the one who organised this attack…” Sky offered.
The woman regarded her intensely, before she concluded “I’ll help you, under one condition,”
“What’s that?”
“You take me with you,”
“What business do you have in the lab?” Sky returned curiously.
“I’m… My brother is missing. He was a researcher, I need to get to him…” she meant to rescue him, but Sky wasn’t sure there was much hope. This woman was the first and only surviving citizen of the Island, it didn’t bode well for anybody else.
“You think he might be still be alive?” Sky didn’t mean to sound pessimistic, or cynical.
“The woman you spoke of, I’m pretty sure she came here to get the data from the labs. There’s a good chance she’s kept all the researchers alive… When she landed with the rest of the Alpha team, she headed straight for the lab. She hasn’t been seen since…”
Sky recoiled. Was this woman talking about Rain? She was the only female in the alpha team. Why had she holed up in the labs? Or was that her mission directive? Sky wasn’t privy to the orders the Alpha team had been working under, only an assumption they would be one and the same… Surely they wouldn’t have been ordered to hole up in the lab?
But what about what the mercs had talked about? Surely the woman they referred to was not Rain? Why would she mastermind a bio-terror attack on the Island only to be deployed here? Or was there some part of this giant puzzle she was still missing?
Suddenly she had a deluge of questions to accompany the others. Her head was beginning to spin a little.
“Are you here to rescue her?” The woman quizzed as she noted Sky’s expression had changed.
“I’m here to rescue anybody who needs it,” Sky answered with a stock answer.
The woman reflected on that for a moment but she seemed to sense it was a default answer. “And how you going to do that? Did you come by boat? Or plane?”
What the survivor was asking was how Sky intended to get everyone off the Island.
“I came by plane, but when the time is right and the communications are restored we’ll coordinate an evacuation,” Sky nodded.
This seemed to please the woman. “I’m Nat,” the woman introduced herself extending a hand.
“Sky,” was the answer as she stepped forward to return the gesture.
“I know a potential way to get
one of those key cards we’re gonna need to get into the main labs, but first I need to drop these supplies off…” She adjusted the bag that was hanging off one shoulder.
Sky nodded.
CHAPTER THREE:
Nat entered the room first, with Sky close behind. It may have once been a form of control centre for the small sewerage system, now it had been refashioned as a base. Computers had become tables and shelves, pipes had become walls for annotated maps. One corner of the room had been repurposed as a sleeping quarters judging by the plethora of sleeping bags. The small room smelt strongly of metal, sweat and the damp. Somewhere a leak was dripping into a puddle and it was a rhythmic soundtrack to the room. The drab concrete room wasn’t very homely, but they‘d make a good effort. It was obviously a haven from the creatures overhead even if it didn‘t look the part.
The two women were greeted by a small cluster of faces, that turned from friendly to suspicious upon sight of Sky. She stepped beside Nat and let them all soak up her details. She had nothing to hide.
“Who’s this?” He was attired in the same uniform as Nat, but he had finished it with a brown leather cowboy hat. He was young, perhaps a few years younger than Nat. He had grown a moustache but rather than age him it made him look more junior. He had a long ponytail that had curled down over his shoulder. He was carrying a shotgun, but he didn‘t seem to hold it confidently. To Sky, this male looked like someone in way over his head.
Which he was, she decided. They were all in over their head.
“Christian,” Nat tipped her head in greeting.
Christian appeared to be a surrogate leader, a trio of different faces closed in behind him. Two young women, one blonde and one brunette. Relatively unremarkable and dressed in civilian clothes. One older male with a grey goatee and wearing a Rain Corp. polo shirt. A store clerk? He didn’t look to be part of the research community.
“This is Sky… She was sent in by the company… She’s the back up,” the revelation caused a minor stir amongst the group. Nat stepped towards the small group and swung the backpack on the nearest counter. Nobody paid any attention, they were too busy studying Sky.
An older woman ushered the four young children into the corner of the room, their identities lost in the low gloom of the room. A male came and stood with the crew, he was dressed in a lab coat and wore thick black glasses.
“F-from the company?” He stuttered trying to restrain his excitement.
Sky nodded but didn’t speak.
“Here to rescue us?” Christian spoke in doubt.
“She’s here to rescue everybody,” Nat answered for Sky.
“We thought the Alpha team was,” Christian remarked coldly.
Sky’s stoic expression fell a slight at his hint, it crumpled in small suspicion as her interest snagged.
“They were only interested in getting into the main-lab,” Christian answered her coolly.
Sky saw Nat visibly bristle out of the corner of her eye.
“I got the tools you need,” she interjected into the conversation before Sky could reply.
It worked, Christian turned his attention to her.
“Then we’ll fix the boat…?” the blonde girl turned to the others.
“We have no idea if they’ve set up camp there,” the older male answered her. His mannerisms were a little soft, his voice carried a little lisp.
“You mean the mercenaries?” Sky took her moment to join the conversation, the male nodded in response, “it’s abandoned, I’ve already investigated the area.”
The brunette nodded enthusiastically. “See, we should all go to the boat and get the fuck outta here!” she winced when she realised there was children present to her swearword.
“There was a group of the infected civillian in the area though,” Sky informed them flatly.
Her warning had no response. Nobody said anything.
“Did you see Raymond?” Christian turned his judging glare that had rested once again on Sky and refocused it on Nat.
“No,” she shook her head.
“Shit…” Christian sighed.
“We sent Raymond to scout for supplies after we’d learnt that the boat was broken…” Nat explained to Sky. “He’s disappeared.”
Was he the young boy outside the communication building? But Nat would’ve passed the body and identified him if it was.
“So your plan is to fix the boat and get out of here?” Sky confirmed to the group. She decided that the talk about Raymond wasn’t particularly useful. He was no doubt dead.
Everybody but Christian nodded.
“The mercs did something to it when they arrived. They wanted to make sure we couldn’t escape…” the older male offered.
“T-they didn’t want us to get away, they wanted no witnesses…” the younger nerdish male stammered in addition. It was a justified rationale, but Sky wasn’t convinced. If they wanted no witnesses why bother to release a contagion at all?
“Did they bring the contagion onto the island?” Sky quizzed gently. She was testing what she had overheard earlier.
Everybody’s face darkened and she got her answer.
“It was some… sort of pink mist, they brought it with them. They took hostages, drew everybody in and released it when everybody was together. They made us all gather in the street, promised us they‘d let the hostages go if we attended. They said they just wanted to negotiate…” the blonde added. Her slack expression told Sky that she had drifted off in thought as she relayed the story. “It was a trap. It was just… Hell… All at once people went berserk, anyone who inhaled it went nuts. Turned into those… zombies.”
“Why didn’t the intruders become infected?”
“I’m g-g-guessing some form of vaccine…” the researcher added.
“And you guys?” Sky looked to the room. Why hadn’t they turned?
“I didn’t inhale…” the blonde answered.
“But Cerise did, and she didn’t turn. She was right there on the front row!” The brunette protested.
“Natural immunity?” the older male offered, but it was very much outside of his knowledge.
Sky thought he might actually have a point. Any pathogen, disease or virus, would have people who were naturally immune to it. Maybe she was looking at a surprising pocket of people immune to whatever contagion had been brought to the island? Or maybe it wasn’t as effective as it could be? Maybe it had a lower infection rate than 100%?
Either way she guessed the survivors were happy to be immune to it. Even if it meant they bore witness to the nightmare.
“Why did they bring it to the Island?” Sky was spit-balling aloud. She didn’t expect them to have an answer, she was just addressing the crux of the problem. Why had they come to the island and released a bio-weapon, and how did Rain fit into it?
“We don’t know…” Christian answered. “They won’t tell us…”
It was something about the way he said it that caught Sky’s interest, “I’m sorry?”
Christian shuffled on the spot and looked to the rest of the group.
“We have one of them, locked in a room just down the way…”
“You have one of the mercenaries prisoner?” Sky remarked in surprise.
“But he won’t tell us anything,” the older guy shrugged disappointedly.
“We’ve tried everything…” the blonde added sullenly. The way she sagged a little suggested to Sky that the woman had offered her body in way of obtaining information and even that had been denied. She must’ve taken it personally.
“Can I speak to him?” Sky enquired politely.
“Sure, everybody else start rounding things up. We’re gonna head to the boat. The sooner we’re off this island the better…” Christian answered on behalf of the group.
“What about the infected?”
“We don’t have a choice, we either stay down here and die or we fight our way off this hell-hole,”
“W-w-what about the back-up?”
Sky felt the attention shift back to her.
“We can’t trust her, we don’t know why she’s come…”
Sky opened her mouth to defend herself but no words came out. It was no doubt futile.
“I say we give her a chance,” the older male offered. He didn’t relish his chances out there. “What’s the plan?”
“The communications will be restored in less than three hours, in the meanwhile you sit tight. When I get comms back online I’ll organise an evacuation,” Sky answered.
At least half of the group seemed happy with that.
Christian, predictably, wasn’t.
“No. We make for the boat, its our only chance. We can’t wait for this woman to organise an evacuation…” Christian argued. The sharp bark of his command made a few fellow survivors jump. They shuffled nervously, uncomfortable with the hostility growing in the air.
Sky’s eyes sharpened and her expression shifted back to stoic coolness.
“I’m not going for the boat,” Nat re-entered the conversation firmly.
“What?” he recoiled. He sounded betrayed, grossly betrayed.
“I’m helping Sky,” she gestured.
“Why? You don‘t know her either!” He seemed disappointed in her.
“I need to find my brother…” she answered with an emphasis on her brother.
“But…” Christian began before he trailed off. He knew it was a fools errand but he understood. “Okay. If you all wanna trust this woman, then fine…” He hung his head in defeat.
“Don’t be like this…” Nat shook her head. Christian sagged a little, his defeat was being taken very personally. “Lets give it a few hours, if Sky isn’t good for her word then fix the boat and get out of here,”
“You’re all idiots, we need to get off the island! We‘ve been waiting hours and hours for back up and they send one fucking woman…” Christian threw up his arms, he then stormed out of the room. Sky wasn’t sure if the comment was sexist or not.
“Where is the prisoner?” Sky gently asked after a few moments of unsteady silence.
-----------------------------------------------
He was sat, head bowed, on a chair with his arms tied behind his back. A single light bulb hung over his head and water was dripping from the ceiling onto his exposed shoulders. He was dressed in a filthy white vest-top and yellow cargo pants. He’d finished his look with a belt that had a golden grenade as a buckle and then tall black boots. He had messy and scratchy tattoos covering his arms that trailed up to his neck. In the gloom of the room it was hard to distinguish all the shapes imprinted on his skin, but Sky could clearly make out a pair of die.
The Rain In The Sky Page 5