The Foliage:Termination (The Foliage Series Book 2)

by Nathan Ward

  It was working but they hadn’t breached the tower, neither did Murdock have the time to kill as Houghton raised her cybernetic arm and ordered for Murdock to be detained, but what happened next came as a gut curdling shock to both Enrique and Murdock alike:

  An electrifying blue light cut through from behind Enrique’s dark eyes, his head jolted to attention then he turned towards Murdock, but there was nothing he could do as Enrique quickly grasped him by his uniform and slammed him down towards the ground with ease, using his newly discovered cybernetic strength to counter the fight that Murdock had begun to put up, but it was no good, he realised this as Enrique made one final blow, knocking Murdock on to his back.

  A sinister grin had begun to form on Houghton’s face, as she stared into the fearful eyes of Murdock while he struggled against Enrique, thumping his fists against his arms that had latched on to him like a pair of leeches.

  “The joke is on you, Captain…the joke has always been on you!”

  The powerful commander stated, before revealing that Enrique had always been their eyes and ears, giving the UNA a formidable upper hand.

  And the blows he tried to deliver to free himself from the grip of the man who had betrayed him were pointless as he pinned him down with android strength. In that moment time seemed to slow as every battle he ever fought, every painful moment of the journey that had led to this played through his mind, scene by scene behind his eyes as above him, Enrique's eyes emitted the alien blue glow that spoke of an unstoppable army of killing machines on the rise. As the blue glow shone cold and turned his stomach as the ache in his vision made him think of the coldness of death and the finality of it all, questions circled his mind like vultures as he took another breath, wondering if it would be his last:

  Was this it?

  Was it all over?

  Was he destined to become a slave to this mechanical race, or to die defying them in some kind of empty gesture that would be lost to the world as casually as the other countless lives had been lost at the hands of these creatures?

  Was this really how it ended?

  Was he meeting his own futile, pointless death, making the effort and the struggle for liberty count for absolutely nothing?

  As the dying rage within Murdock's eyes turned to sorrow and he felt hope sliding further from his grasp, Houghton chuckled, it seemed a human-mimicked sound, yet eerily artificial and as dry as cracked leaves in autumn, it was unearthly, a reminder of the alien nature of the presence that had claimed humanity. It was a mocking death knell for mankind, like a premature declaration that victory had already been won and a promise that the human race and its efforts to survive now counted for absolutely zero...

  Chapter 38: No Other Choice

  “You must fight the sickness, Enrique. You’re my friend! Remember the humanity you’ve thrived off! Remember what we came here to do!”

  Murdock stopped pleading for reason as he gasped for air as panic overwhelmed his body, he was pinned underneath the mass pressing on top of him that held him down, restraining his movement while above the sound of the war birds weapons continued to drill against the glass panels of the tower, leaving a shower of shards to filter down past the shattered window frame like a crystalline waterfall, sparkling like blue diamonds under the chromatic, vivid smog that had filled the morning sky and begun to shimmer to those afar, looking on at the city under siege, while the sound of gunfire and explosions caught the attention of nearby travelers and rogue Howlers lurking the wastelands.

  Flames rose high from the carcasses and machinery, while buildings crumbled beneath themselves, purifying the baron streets of all life - Human, Howler, mutant and android alike, all demolished and churned against the blood soaked roads.

  But the rampage was relentless and showing with no apparent sign of stopping - as long as air filled the lungs of the surviving monstrosities and power cells energised the mechanical limbs of the UNA soldiers, the war would continue to wage on and on, until one side fell and the other rose in absolute conquer.

  With all but a few hours until dusk, the rising sun would soon bring a ray of light that would expel the blanket of night laid over the city. That sun would wake up to vivid clarity every horror of battle the night had dimmed, the fallen, the gleam of android and human fluids running together in streets littered with the dead as Howlers lay festering lifeless in the first heat of the new day. The horrors of war would all be there in brilliant clarity come morning.

  However, a brief passing moment had seemed to stretch like an hour to Murdock, and it seemed almost a lifetime since dropping inside of the Tower, he realised as he waited those agonising moments of silence for Enrique to respond.

  The wait was ended by Houghton speaking up.

  “Admittedly you were always one step ahead, Captain. But you see, Enrique was manufactured before the virus had even been planted. There were others also similar to him, but Enrique was fortunate, he was primitive enough to believe in his very own existence as a human being, where other models didn’t even survive the surgical procedure.” Commander Houghton explained this as she neared Murdock, cautious of his frantic actions as he continued to try and shift Enrique’s body that had pressed on top of him.

  “You lie! The full body androids hadn’t been perfected back then, It’s only been a few weeks since they were rolled off the conveyor belt, I should know, Commander…your outpost vessel of transportation was the first to pass inspection was it not?” Murdock ranted, expressing a warrant rage through his deep brown eyes, setting them firmly on Houghton, who now towered over him, glaring down to meet his gaze with contempt.

  “Affirmative, Captain, however... this body failed the inspection protocol and was declared a safety hazard to those around it,” she explained with a raspy, chilling tone while her neck extruded from the body and pivoted down closer to Murdock, casting a shadow of pure evil over half of his turned head.

  “You always had the upper hand, Captain Murdock. Yet you still ended up exactly where we wanted you…” Houghton whispered, knelt down close beside him, her lips a fraction from Murdock’s ear.

  He couldn’t bear to look her in the eye any longer but he also remembered in that moment what Josh had told him, the machines were just puppets, wired up to the great intelligence that had been thriving from the top of the tower for all this time. “You don’t scare me, commander!” Murdock raged, still immobilised by Enrique's mass on top of him, but as he came to think about, he realised he wasn’t vastly heavy, his body felt like that of a humans, he could even feel the sharpness of bones under the flesh of his arms as they remained latched on to him.

  “Tell me what you have done to him!” Murdock demanded, turning his head and looking back angrily at Houghton, casting aside the veil of fear that had lingered within him.

  But Houghton remained quiet, unusually silent as she took a few heavy steps back towards her four royal guards who had remained aligned around the oval shape of the room with their staffs still firmly in place inside holsters that were extruding from the navy leather of their suits.

  All Murdock could see was a sequenced line of blue light, emitting from the eyes of the villainy as it stood beside him, watching and waiting but silent to all his questions as he asked.

  “Talk to me, Houghton. Or I swear, to whoever watches over this disgusting world, I will end you…in the most painful way possible to a being of your caliber!” Roared Murdock, and then he took a moment to catch his breath before continuing, “Because believe me, I’ll find a way…I always find a way, Houghton!”

  Then he lay exhausted against the ground, but the fleshy lips upon Houghton's cold plated head retained an expression of delight, it was almost a smirk as if she was enjoying the performance being held at the foot of her.

  “Now if you had said anything beside that, we would have been most disappointed, Captain. After all, your fighting spirit is what we found most attractive, most exhilarating while watching over you!”

  Murdock finally
fell in to a deeper state of panic, a panic he’d been on the verge of for a while, but he had now reached the tipping point as theories involving his relevance to the UNA plan begun to filter through his mind like the sands of an hour glass that were starting to slide away and run out, along with time and his options...

  “Bring the Captain, Enrique. He is required inside the throne room,” ordered Houghton as she turned to face the corridor.

  It was then Murdock looked into the eyes of the enemy who had him pinned – an enemy who had once been his friend – Enrique had to still be in there and able to listen! It was worth a try, anything was worth a try now...

  Murdock gave it another shot, desperately hoping his words would pull out memories of the man he knew, who was still in there somewhere...

  “Enrique…My friend, you’ve been by my side for days on end! You’ve always had my back when I slipped up and you never asked for anything in return. Whether you’re human or machine, you will always be the most kind hearted person I’ve ever had the honour of serving with…Find that person again! I know you're still in there! Just please, don’t do this, not to me - find your inner strength to beat their conditioning back down to hell!” Ordered Murdock.

  He stared beyond the tissue of his eyes, breaking through those windows to his soul as he felt sure these would be the last moment he would ever know speaking with the one he called Enrique.

  The fluorescent blue clouded the whites of Enrique’s eyes, the grasp of the UNA remained as strong as ever, even while the man inside his mind stood firm and tried his damnedest to fight his way through the psychological barrier containing what it meant to be alive within his mind. They had cast a spell concealing the man that Murdock had befriended inside of a chest with grand padlocks along its seam yet still he thumped, until his knuckles bled, until he had no other choice but to surrender to the greater power - for his soul was lost, and Murdock recognised the moment as the blue of his eye illuminated brighter than ever, burning away the remains of his fleshy eye balls.

  Murdock had been dreading the coming of that moment, so as it happened he left no time to shed a tear and instead he reached for the switch on the side of his collar, pressing it firmly, activating the exoskeleton helmet which swept over his head and concealed his face in the space of a second.

  “I’m so sorry…I have no other choice!” said Murdock, before thrusting his forehead into the face of what was once Enrique’s body, now overturned by the UNA like a puppet on strings of iron.

  Enrique's body flung backwards from the blow as fragments of flesh and blood erupted in to the air. Murdock caught a hold of the situation and found the moment to make his move, by pushing against the mass that had been on top of him and throwing him across the room in to a pile of glass and metal shards.

  “Honestly, Houghton. You’ve fucked with the wrong people!” claimed Murdock, as he climbed back to his weary feet and drew his wrist computer to his chest.

  “Bring me the Captain, Enrique. Even if it has to be his head!” Ordered Houghton, remaining with her back turned to Murdock, who had once again taken back control of the War bird and begun to maneuver it closer to the tower, remembering Josh and Thomas were still clung to the hull.

  The air crafts weapons had come to a halt and a crystalline hole in the glass had begun to form, due to the aggression of the war birds’ fire power. It didn’t take Thomas long to notice as he lifted his head to cast his gaze towards the tower while the winds blustered and ripped through his and Joshes hair.

  “This is it, Josh! We’re going to have to jump!” Thomas yelled, as he clung on to the hull.

  “No, wait a little longer…we’re moving closer!” ordered Josh as he lay uncomfortably beside Thomas, watching on as Murdock piloted the craft, slowly easing it nearer to the tower, just to guarantee that his friends would have a fighting chance of making it on to the upper levels.

  But before he could manage to pilot it at optimal distance from the side, he caught a glimpse of a dark mass moving quickly towards him. Enrique pounced at him, pulling Murdock against the ground and in to a short lived tumble. As they both crashed to the ground, Murdock's arm was slammed forcefully against the concrete slabs beneath him, smashing the glass of his wrist computer, which shattered and scattered about the room as shards flew like an exploding grenade of glass.

  The war bird suddenly shuddered and begun to maneuver itself away from the tower, gradually losing velocity which brought the sound of alarm bells ringing clearly in Joshes head.

  “Something’s gone wrong; we have to jump, now!” Josh bellowed, attempting to find his balance as he pulled himself on to his feet while fighting against the stormy winds flowing through the skies.

  Thomas reached up and slapped his hand against Joshes which had been there to meet his, latching on and hoisting him off the blackened surface of the War bird as it continued to lose control, swaying from left to right.

  “Are you ready?” asked Josh, looking back at Thomas as the winds whipped against his flesh, distorting his sudden expression of panic, unaware of the craft about to make one final brutal jolt. That jolt launched the pair of them, throwing Josh and Thomas through the air and crashing through the weakened, fragmented glass window.

  Their bodies suddenly dropped like sandbags, colliding with the ground of the upper levels with glass lodged into the under bellies of their white leathers as the stray War bird dropped from the skies, descending below their field of vision and falling in to a frantic tumble, smashing its wings against the sides of the tower which gnawed away at the paintwork, leaving strokes of sharp silver illuminating from under the matt black coating.

  Murdock had only just managed to pull his skull from the ground when he caught the gut churning sight of the War bird plummeting past the grand window frame.

  The sheer weight of the craft meant that it didn’t take long until the hull came to a crashing halt in to the war zone down below, landing on top of the allied Howlers and separated UNA units, slamming their crushed mass into the recesses of the concrete rubble.

  Murdock quickly pulled his arm to his chest and cast his sights over the destroyed appliance, there wasn’t anything left of it, just a few corners with fragments of glass holding on - but the controls to the war bird were gone, and he had no way of telling if Thomas and Josh had made it.

  What if they fell with the ship?

  Or what if they were thrown before they had a chance to jump…

  Murdocks thought's were in a whirl of confusion and fear for his friends as he begun to panic again, becoming blind to the incoming assault, as Enrique struck a blow to his head, launching Murdock’s body back down to the ground.

  “They…were also our friends!” he gasped, as he felt the aggressor grasp on to his shoulder and heave his weight up off the ground and into the air, before placing him on to his feet. Murdock knew he couldn’t hold back any longer, he had to fight Enrique. Even though his friend was no longer conscious, it was still his face and stance that opposed him, so it was always going to feel like he was betraying him, but there was no other way, he had no choice...

  Murdock launched a thunderous kick into Enrique's chest, knocking him back a few feet and allowing time for Murdock to draw his mighty blade from his sheath on his back.

  “Let us end this,” he added darkly, now resigned to fight, die or do both – but this battle had to be fought because there could be no other way.

  Enrique straightened his back and wrapped his hands around the handles of his infamous pick axes, withdrawing them slowly from their thigh mounted sheaths while the sound of metallic friction echoed from side to side of the oval room and lightning struck down from the heavens, casting light over the two powerful warriors as they faced off against one another.

  Houghton and her royal guards remained glued to their positions; ready to witness what they had always considered would be the titan match of their reign, as the power over the earth. They patiently counted down the seconds until blood would be sp
illed, staining the tiles of the grand tower once more.

  Chapter 39: A Storm Among Storms

  A powerful fork of lightning broke out from the sky and came down in a zigzag, slamming into its target, a nearby tower, blitzing its roof into instant mess of debris while stone and tile hurtled off the sides and down towards the city streets.

  The interior of the structure also sparked to life as a tiny flame sprouted from the destruction and spread rapidly and fluidly, like fire over gasoline. The window frames became a series of burning portraits and an orange fiery glow projected like torchlight over to the tower of light which had been stood close by.

  That light shone directly opposite the West side apartments and through the shattered window panel which led into the oval room where Murdock and Enrique had stood, still locked within each others menacing gaze.

  “This planet of ours, it never belonged to us! It never has! The course of nature will always prevail, but it never meant to be detrimental to us, it’s a way of flushing out evil, the sickness that thrives beneath the surface, even within a good man, and bad things will follow…But even with the odds stacked against us, together we ARE stronger, Enrique! Together we have ALWAYS been stronger!” Murdock chanted this like a mantra, stupidly following the heart of his emotion over that of the mind, a mapping of the situation that couldn’t have been anymore accurate. Enrique’s body was all that was left and the sooner Murdock could come to terms with the loss of his sidekick the easier it would be to move forward and commit to the deed that had to be done - but Enrique didn’t allow for such time to be dealt as he scraped together the blades of his pick axes, breaking Murdock's concentration and filling the room with a horrible sound of sharp metallic friction like a butcher about to slay live stock.

  Houghton and her minions remained a few feet away, surrounding the two combatants, highlighting the sharp edges of their fleshy structure with a gentle blue ray that had pierced from their eye sockets.