The Rain In The Sky

by Antony J Woodward

  And what of this ‘trap’?

  “Not much further,” Nat announced breaking their silence. She was a little breathless from the exertion but she hadn’t faltered. Sky was brought out from her mental stupor and she was relieved a little.

  “Are you and your brother close?” Sky enquired.

  “As close as siblings ever get I guess…”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m his big sister, sometimes I get too much apparently…” Nat smiled a little.

  “What’s his name?” Sky was enjoying making conversation. It was probably her first innocent conversation she‘d ever had. She couldn’t think of a single conversation that hadn’t been work-orientated, or with researchers who were studying her intently. She was a guinea pig and she was never let to think otherwise. For a moment, this silly little conversation made her feel normal.

  “Ant,” Nat answered. “Do you have any siblings…?”

  That was a complicated question if ever there was one. Did she? What relation were the clones to herself? Were they her sisters, or something entirely different? Mother? Aunt? Twin?

  What was Rain to her? Sky had always viewed Rain as something of an older sister, a sister she’d had to live in the shadow of all her life… But was that accurate? They’d barely spent a moment in each other’s presence… yet she felt she knew Rain despite it. Was that just their tenuous connection of genetics and DNA? Or something else? Did she know Rain because they were one and the same? Like how you know the back of your own hand? Or was Rain something very different now? Were they no longer one and the same? Merely bound by blood and genetic material… Like the phenomenon of twins…?

  “An older sister,” she answered aware the pause had dragged on a little too long, she was still uncertain if it was indeed correct.

  “You get on?”

  “I guess. We don’t see much of each other… You?”

  “I like to keep an eye on him. He’s always been a little bit of an oddball,”

  “Is that why you work on this Island too?”

  “I guess so… When our parents died, I guess I felt I had to keep an eye on him… What about your parents? Are you close to them?”

  “That’s complicated,” Sky shrugged. She had no idea how to even begin the mental gymnastics of her lab-born existence. Was Fiona her mother? Was Alex Kirkman her father? Or was it something else entirely? It was all so very grey and blurry. Her face crumpled a little, and Nat mistook it as pain. She wrongly guessed that Sky’s parents were dead.

  “Do you enjoy your job?” Nat’s question caught Sky a little off guard. It wasn’t something she’d ever considered. It had just been something she’d always done, never really questioning why. She had unknowingly just become an extension of Fiona, continuing where she’d once left off.

  “I guess so,” she answered. It was surprising how deeply penetrated she’d been by that simple question. It had unsettled her foundations a little and she felt shaken. Was it something she enjoyed or just something she did? There was a big difference to be found in the answer. Subconsciously she gazed into her gloved fist like it might have an answer.

  “Here,” Nat announced as she touched upon a ladder, “we go up here and come out right outside the dome.” It was a welcome distraction from the question rattling around Sky’s mind. “Just remember, if we see any infected no gunfire. The sound attracts them, we don‘t wanna be hounded down by a pack of them…”

  Sky regarded the slender brunette, how quickly she’d accustomed to this nightmare. She was thriving in this, thriving when so many had crumpled in defeat.

  It was admirable.

  Then Nat was heading up and Sky was left stood at the bottom. Her gaze drifted from the disappearing silhouette of her companion and back to her hand.

  She felt she was on the verge of an existential crisis, one good push and she would probably plummet to the depths of her own identity. Who was she? She studied her gloved hand and curled her fingers into a tight fist. Who was she? Suddenly Sky was posed with the inescapable truth that she didn’t know who she really was…

  Was she the same woman who could infect an entire island for some unknown agenda?

  Or was she a long-dead soldier brought back to life? Was she someone’s daughter reborn from the halls of the dead? All Sky had to identify herself was numerous women that she wasn’t…

  Or was she? Was she only a few pushes away from being Rain herself?

  What Sky didn’t realise was; she was poking at the philosophical argument of nature vs. nurture. Was her experiences in life enough to transform her different from her predecessor? Or was she hardwired to be exactly same as the women before her?

  She took a breath and made a silent vow that she wouldn’t become Rain, she would die before she became a villain.

  ---------------------------------------------

  The way into the bio-dome had been easy and unimpeded by any obstacles. No infected blocked their way and they entered with no drama. The dome was larger than Sky had expected, it also looked more like a giant greenhouse than a dome.

  The heat difference of the cool early-afternoon air and the inside of the dome was noticeable. She had thought it was stuffy in the sewers, but it was far heavier in the dome.

  As they stole into the giant-greenhouse they were greeted by an impressive tree that had grown in a twisted spiral upwards. It had long yellow trails of leaves and it reminded the women of a weeping willow. Behind it, set lower than ground level, was several fields of crops. Corn, cabbages, tomatoes and potatoes.

  A curious mixture of crops that Sky wasn’t sure aligned correctly with seasonal needs. But she was no gardener so what did she know?

  Off to the right appeared to be a glass elevator, it led up to the balconies where the residents seemed to have set up a butterfly garden. The butterflies fluttered against the ceiling like little daytime stars. To the left of the impractical, but fancy, glass elevator was an industrial metal elevator that Sky presumed headed down towards the labs. That was their destination.

  That it was all very state of the art was Sky’s initial impression. Everything glistened crisply and cleanly, despite the very nature of growing crops being bound in mud. It wasn’t the first time that Sky felt the environment had been beamed into existence from the pages of some future catalogue. Whoever was responsible for cleaning this island deserved a raise. As long as they weren’t dead of course.

  “Quiet,” Nat whispered. She pointed to a shape in the middle of the potato field. A lone crooked woman was stood, rocking gently from side to side. She swayed gently in her own rhythm, twitching every now and again. Her dirty ginger hair swayed in her movement.

  “Trouble…” Sky remarked.

  “As long as we’re quiet we should be okay…” Nat whispered.

  Still, Nat ducked low and proceeded forward erring on the side of caution.

  Sky followed.

  They descended a small staircase built from clear plastic, they then began to cross the plantation fields.

  “Gngh,” a male voice caught their attention. A male dressed in a dirty set of orange overalls was stood nearby. He was rocking from side to side ever so slightly too, his mouth agape and oozing white slime. His red eyes were wide and pointed directly at them.

  Yet he didn’t notice the two women. In fact he seemed to be looking straight through them.

  “K-k-k-k-k-k,” the male clicked and then jerked a little. It was like something was burning through his nerves and synapses…

  Sky’s hand hovered over a handgun.

  “They’re blind while they‘re zoned out like that…” Nat whispered very quietly. She gestured for Sky to follow with a thumb, then she began to creep on towards the elevator.

  Sky hesitated and then slowly followed.

  Why did the infected drool like that? It was very much like rabies… Was the contagion derived from Rabies? It was a question she’d already considered, but it reappeared forefront with such a close look
at one of them.

  They passed another idle zombie, he was dressed in the same colour overalls and was facing into the fields. He had his back to the women but both of them could clearly hear his teeth grating together.

  Sky could’ve easily taken all three of them out, but Nat’s words echoed in her mind. Last thing she wanted was to bring more of them raining down upon them. Her own gung-ho actions had brought a whole posse down upon herself this morning, and it wasn‘t a mistake she was keen to repeat. They turned from the vegetable patches into a passageway carved through a modest cornfield. The yellow and green stalks loomed taller than the pair of them.

  The pair were almost near their destination when another infected victim ambled from the right, directly into view and then crossed them. It staggered onward and disappeared into a thick patch of corn to their left. It was a close brush with danger and both women bristled.

  It had only needed to turn its head slightly and it would’ve seen them.

  They reached the elevator a few moments after and still neither women had dared to risk speaking. The elevators had been positioned on a small little platform and was flanked on either side by tall towers of flowers. It was all very pretty, much like the rest of the island.

  Nat fumbled for her key card in her pocket, she pressed it against the reader before she hit the button, a dainty green light lit up.

  PING. A soft and pleasant ping, but a rather loud noise nonetheless.

  Both women froze and drew breath.

  Sky glanced behind them, there was two very thick rows of corn obscuring the immediate vicinity. Something rustled nearby but it might’ve been nothing more than Sky’s imagination. Her hand crept towards a handgun, just in case.

  The metal lift doors clattered open behind them. Noisily.

  “Come on, quick!” Nat hissed.

  The two of them bungled into the lift sharply.

  Pronounced rustling came from behind them.

  Inside Nat jabbed the button that said 1B.

  More rustling, growing louder.

  The doors hadn’t shut.

  Sky’s hand curled around a handgun.

  The doors finally began to shut.

  The ginger female they’d spied upon entering the dome burst from the cornfield and staggered on the spot in a disorientated daze for a moment. She then focussed in on the sound of the lift doors shutting. She was too late. Her charge was met by a thick metal door. It banged and reverberated in the carriage but Sky and Nat were safe.

  Sky still had her gun aimed up as the lift doors pinged open one floor down.

  They weren’t assaulted as the doors opened. Instead they were greeted by a lab that was half cast in shadow. Thick and foreign plants framed the reception. The walls were painted white, except two were made of frosted glass and stylish patterns of white Perspex. It smelt earthy with a faint trace of bleach down in the bowels of the dome. Sky stepped out gun first. Nat followed suit.

  A quick sweep told them the reception was empty. The colourful chairs were empty save for a few magazines scattered over them. The bland paintings on the waiting area were uninspired and boring. A water cooler hummed to itself softly in the corner, but there was no plastic cups available. An automatic light came on as Sky headed for the main desk; a neat little hole cut into the glass wall. The light almost immediately popped overhead and sent sparks raining down on Sky. It felt like an omen.

  Nat headed for the one and only door but it didn’t open. Sky noticed and leant into the hatch. She couldn’t immediately spy a door release anywhere nearby. The little office was messy, paperwork had been scattered all over and littered across the floors. A computer lay on its side and a bonsai tree had been uprooted from a basket next to it. Something had obviously gone down in the office…

  She glanced back at Nat who was shaking the door to no avail. There was nothing for it, a quick little hop over the hatch permitted Sky access to the little office. She trekked across the overturned room and opened the single shiny white door. It opened into a metal-grey corridor punctuated with walls made of Perspex and white frosted glass. It was sparsely lit, like it was operating on emergency lighting only. To her left she approximated was the door Nat was on the other side of. She glanced right, the long corridor had been the background to some great violence. There was large holes and cracks in the walls, lumps of glass littered the rubbery floor like glittering landmines of sharpness. This was the greatest scene of contained violence she’d spied since arriving on the island. She felt the whisperings of danger ring in her ear as she stepped to, and unlocked, the door Nat was struggling with. She permitted her into the corridor. She recognised the small surprise that washed Nat’s face upon sight of the corridor. Both women were equally curious just what had happened down here? It seemed the most unlikely of places to be the background of great violence.

  The pair exchanged a glance, then headed deeper into the lab‘s depths. They took careful and precarious steps around the jagged shards of glass littering the grey rubberised floor. The texture on the floor was a peculiar pattern of bubbles and squares, like a path of domino tiles.

  Further on they found yet more evidence of violence. A long smear of blood coated up one wall and disappeared into a large jagged hole. Sky peeked inside the hole but the room was too gloomy to make anything out of note. As they headed deeper they spied little, and violently overturned, conference rooms and offices laid on the either side of the corridors. They were all half-caste in shadow. This was the only place in the entire island that seemed to have been turned inside out…

  It was surprising to say the least. A lab dedicated to genetically modified crops didn’t seem a likely candidate in the slightest. What had happened down here?

  “Where do we start?” Nat keeping her voice low.

  “I don’t know…” Sky answered distracted. She was a little off-kilter, she was a little taken back and surprised by the state of the facility around her. She reminded herself they were here to find a high-level key card, but now they were here they realised neither of them had accounted for exactly how they would find one…

  Not that either of them had expected this either…

  “M-m-mother,” a moan from somewhere made them both freeze stiff. The acoustics were distorted with the many panes of glass and then the numerous holes. Where had that come from?

  “Did you hear that?” Nat whispered. Sky nodded and glanced around them. Nothing was in the straight corridor with them, but something was definitely down here with them.

  Sky cocked a head and gestured for Nat to follow her. She carved a path forward with small and careful steps through the shards of glass. One unseen shard crunched loudly underfoot and it made her freeze, there was too much of it littering the floor to avoid at times. She held her breath concerned she‘d attract something with the sound. After a pregnant pause, both women concluded they’d not attracted anything’s attention.

  They proceeded on and reached the end of the corridor. They found a large pair of double doors made of glass and yellow metal stripes. A long placard was mounted on the glass, so shiny it was reflective. It read “MAIN LAB” in a futuristic font. To its right mounted on the wall was a key card reader. Sky reached up and took the handle, but the door didn’t yield. Of course, it had been too easy so far.

  Sky pointed to the reader and Nat nodded. She stepped to it and swiped her key card. It declined them with a metallic and grating groan. Both women were disappointed. Sky considered using her own, but she realised her card was marked with the same colours as Nat’s. Obviously they were of the same clearance…

  Sky had a private moment where she considered that perhaps home-base should’ve equipped with her the appropriate key cards before setting out, it seemed like a pretty shocking oversight. They had sent her to an island they owned without anything useful like a master key. The grim realisation made a knot of contention.

  “Guess we’ll have to find a key card down here then…” Nat sighed quietly.

  S
he pointed Sky towards the nearby single door. It read “08” on the door. She herself turned in the other direction. They would sweep the corridor and explore the rooms they’d ignored so far. It was a good plan, Sky carefully pushed against the door. It slowly and silently opened. The room was sporadically illuminated with a flickering light. She noted it was filled with strange plants in tanks of fluid. It looked like a sort of small lab, or storage room. She gave it a quick once-over but nothing struck out. She was looking for a researcher, dead or otherwise. A dead researcher would no doubt have the correct key card, while she would’ve obviously preferred to find a living one she wasn’t holding out hope. She backed out of the room and shook her head.

  Nat was already opening the door opposite, “07”.

  She peered in, then retreated slowly and shook her head too. The two women began to backtrack down the corridor, neither woman was particularly relishing the prospect of exploring these rooms. They hadn’t forgotten about the mysterious voice from moments ago.

  Sky reached “06”, she began to open the door. It groaned and she instantly froze. The noise echoed in the confines of the corridor. Both women felt the hairs on the back of their neck rise to attention. There was a rustle somewhere inside the room before Sky. The room was too dark and obscured by a jungle of foliage and leafage for Sky to see clearly. The plants had become massively overgrown, surprisingly unkempt in an establishment that seemed so pristine.

  There was a quiet gentle tap-tap of footsteps somewhere but again the acoustics were hard to pinpoint. She held her breath and tried to focus her ears. There was a faint hum of a machine somewhere, but she could no longer hear footsteps.

  Sky had the door open wide enough for a foot to wedge it open but it just wasn’t enough to squeeze through entirely. Retreat or advance? Either way would probably cause the door to groan… She glanced back to Nat who was watching intently.

  What was she to-“GRARGH!” A feral shout narrated the swipe of a clawed hand that lashed out at Sky. She threw herself backwards barely avoiding the talons aimed at her.