Plexus

by Wilcoxson, Troy

“I’m sorry,” he says with a tear running down his cheek. “I’m sorry for everything!”

  He covers his mouth. Tears trickle down his cheeks and hit his fingers.

  “I deserve to be there, not you,” he says, taking a breath.

  He stands up from his chair and stares coldly at the body. His eyes pan back and forth as if reading his thoughts. Zach sees his sister running through a field of hyacinths with a bright smile, kind eyes, and dark hair fluttering in the wind. Zach closes his eyes; a tear runs down his cheek. Quickly wiping it away, he walks to the door and slings it open.

  “Zach,” the doctor says.

  Ignoring the doctor, Zach storms out and slams the door behind him. He exits into the parking lot and walks through a gentle snowfall. Zach pulls out his keys, unlocks his Mustang, and gets into the driver’s seat. Sitting for what seems to be an eternity in the quiet, he stares through his frosted window deep in thought. He looks to the passenger seat and spots his cell phone. He picks it up to find he has a missed call and taps the screen to see who called. He cranks up the engine and lets the windows defrost. The missed call reads “work.” His eyes focus as he taps the phone number to call. With his phone up to his ear, he watches people walk by on the sidewalk. A cute couple walks by. The young man smiles as the woman laughs. She rests her head onto the young man’s shoulder.

  Zach pulls out of the parking lot and accelerates onto the roadway. He stops at a red light, looks back at his phone, taps his work phone number, and places the phone to his ear.

  “DC Police Department,” a male voice says.

  “Hey, this is Becker. Someone tried to call me,” Zach says.

  “Boss wants you in his office now,” the man replies.

  “Be there soon,” Zach says.

  Zach taps the screen to hang up.

  Zach slowly turns the corner. The snowfall twirls and sticks to his windshield. He sees a group of kids making a little snowman on the sidewalk. Running his fingers through his hair, he sighs.

  Sleep deprived, he drives the speed limit, stopping at lights and stop signs. Before he knows it, he arrives at the department. He exits the car and heads up the stairs to the police station’s front door, then enters the building. He quickly walks through the department and stops at an office door. With everyone watching him, he opens the door, revealing a man sitting behind the desk with fingers interlaced. Zach stops behind an empty chair.

  “Take a seat,” the man says.

  Gently pulling the wooden chair back, Zach takes a seat. The man looks at him with pity and then shakes his head. Watching the man talk away, Zach doesn’t hear what he’s saying. With a hollow stare, he observes the man’s angry expressions. He appears to be yelling. Lost in thought, Zach remembers his sister. Her smile, her laugh, her touch.

  “I know what you have been doing on the side, I know the ruckus you have caused, and I let it happen for long enough,” he says to Zach without sympathy.

  “I’m going to need your gun and badge,” the man says to Zach.

  Zach takes out his badge and gun, placing them on the desk. Standing up, Zach steps outside the door and leaves the building.

  Zach stands at the top of the staircase and looks up at the sun between a break in the clouds.

  He then walks to his car, gets inside, and cranks it up to head back home.

  About ten minutes go by. He returns home and heads up the stairs to his apartment. He quietly opens the door and closes it behind him. As he stands in the middle of his empty apartment, he realizes how quiet it is.

  Zach spots a photo of himself with his sister on a lamp table and picks it up.

  A tear runs down his face as he holds the frame with a shaky hand. He then slams the photo onto the glass table, shattering the frame.

  He snatches the lamp and lifts it up. He then hurls it into the wall, breaking it into pieces. Grabbing a painting off the wall, he throws it across the room. He snatches his war medals and flings them out the window. He kicks chairs and smashes them against the wall, breaks cabinets, and tosses dishes.

  With his rage depleted, he drops against the flipped dinner table and slides into a hopeless depression. An eon passes until he regains his breath and places his hand over his eyes. Dropping his head back against the table, he stares endlessly into the ceiling.

  “Give me a sign,” Zach whispers.

  It is quiet. He lifts his head back up. Something catches his eye. Past the broken lamp and shattered dishes, he sees a pistol lying on the wooden floor. Surrounded by broken glass, it calls to him. All the sadness and anger leaves his face. Determination embraces him, and he becomes calmer. He stands up, walks over to the gun, picks it up, and walks back. He then drops back down to rest against the table again. Releasing the magazine, he checks it to see that it is loaded with bullets. He then pops the magazine back into the pistol, flips the safety off, and looks across the room with no emotion. Inhaling deeply, he puts the gun to his head. He closes his eyes, placing his finger on the trigger.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

  “Aah!” a child screams from outside.

  Zach’s eyes open.

  “No!” the child cries.

  Zach gasps, removing his finger. Jumping to his feet, he drops the gun.

  Moving to investigate the child’s screams, his memories drift back to when he was in Korea.

  “What are you doing?” a man’s voice says in Zach’s head.

  Zach runs out of his apartment door.

  “Is there somebody inside?” Zach roars, looking at a Korean house engulfed in flames.

  Zach rushes down the stairs from his apartment.

  “The other guys heard someone yelling, but it’s too late, man!” the soldier replies to Zach.

  Zach runs to the door. His hand sizzles as he grabs the hot doorknob.

  Sprinting across the street from the apartment, he enters a back alley. The sound of commotion and crying draws close as he approaches the corner.

  “What are you doing?” the soldier screams at Zach.

  “We have to help him!” Zach shouts as he tries to find a way inside.

  The soldier grabs Zack’s arm.

  “You can’t help him,” the soldier says.

  Zach rips his arm away, stepping up to the door. He then kicks it open. Flames burst out at him as he hits the ground.

  Stopping at the corner, Zach sees a boy being held by an android with enraged rosy eyes.

  “Ahhhh!” The boy cries in horror, tears running down his face.

  Zach jumps to his feet and runs toward the burning Korean house. Grabbing Zach from behind, the soldier tries to stop him.

  “He’s already dead!” the soldier cries.

  Pushing the man away, Zach vanishes into the flames.

  Another android aims a pistol at a girl who lies on the ground. Zach charges the android that wields the pistol in the back alley and tackles him.

  Bang! The bullet ricochets off a brick wall.

  Gasp! The other android’s mouth drops as the boy kicks and screams in his arms. Zach punches the green-eyed android, knocking him out. He gets to his feet to look at the other android, who holds the boy under one arm.

  “Stay back, or I’ll snap his neck!” the android hisses at Zach.

  As he runs through the fire, the Korean building begins to collapse.

  Zach charges the android, snatching up a wooden board, then cocks it back in a full sprint. SMASH! The wooden board snaps in two sending splinters and teeth into the air. Dropping the boy from his grasp, the android falls back with blood spilling down his nose and mouth.

  Zach turns toward the unconscious girl, lying face down on the ground.

  Dodging bursts of flames, Zach finds a soldier under rubble in the burning Korean building. Lifting her onto his shoulder, he groans and moves toward the exit.

  Zach walks toward the girl’s limp body and turns her over, rolling her into his arms. Her head falls back, her eyes shut, and Zach looks at her in disbelief.

/>   Stopping at the fire that blocks the exit, Zach hesitates.

  Emily’s eyes begin to open as she wakes up to see Zach’s face.

  “How did you escape the fire?” a voice says in Emily’s head.

  With a loud grunt, Zach hurls Emily through the fire as embers glide past her face.

  “I flew,” she whispers.

  Gently placing her hand on Zach’s astounded face, she smiles, and a tear runs down her cheek.

  “You found me,” she whispers with a smile.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  From the darkness she crept, hair black as night and skin pale as death. Threads of darkness spill from her eyes, and her fingernails reach down to her knees.

  09:00 AM, December 13, 2051

  Fifteen Hours Till Day Zero

  At the train station, a young man and his daughter wait anxiously.

  “Are you exited?” the father says with a smile.

  “Yes,” she replies with a tear dropping to the floor.

  An elderly lady approaches.

  “So, who are we waiting for?” the lady says with a smile.

  “Mommy!” the little girl says. Her father laughs.

  “How long has mommy been gone?” the lady asks.

  “A couple months,” the father replies.

  “Bet you guys are ready to see her!” she says with a smile.

  The little girl nods, crying.

  “Gabby, who’s that?” the father says excitedly.

  “Mom!” Gabby cries, dropping from her father’s grasp and running toward a blond woman in an office suit, who holds a suitcase.

  The mother drops to her knees with open arms and a smile on her face. Leaping into her mother’s arms, the little girl buries her face in her mother’s coat in tears.

  “How’s my little girl?” the mother asks, squeezing her daughter tightly.

  The little girl rests her head on her mom’s shoulder.

  “Good,” the little girl says.

  “You still have the locket I gave you!” the mother says with a smile.

  “She hasn’t taken it off since you left. She stares at it all the time,” the father says.

  The mother looks up at her husband as he stands there with a smile. Opening the locket, she reveals a small photo of her and her daughter. The mother carries her daughter toward the father.

  With the bright sun shining through the window, the mother places a kiss on his lips. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulls her and his daughter close.

  “We both missed you,” he says, giving her another kiss.

  She smiles.

  “I missed both of you!” she replies.

  “Ready to go home?” the father asks.

  “You have no idea,” she says, holding her daughter.

  They ride the escalator down, heading toward the exit.

  “Gotta hit the restroom! Two seconds!” the father says, moving quickly toward the men’s bathroom. The mother laughs, shaking her head.

  “He’s your father, missy,” she says with a chuckle.

  The daughter smiles with her arms around her mother.

  The father rushes into a toilet stall and closes it quickly. Sitting down, he exhales out of relief. He drops his head forward and then feels a tickle on his neck. Thinking that it’s a bug, he slaps his neck. The lights dim, then flicker. He looks up, seeing long, black dripping wet hair slip over the stall wall.

  “What the hell?” he says.

  Everything is quiet. The lights flicker again. Looking down at his feet, he sees a pale white hand with long nails scrape across the floor, disappearing behind the stall wall.

  “Fuck!” he says, hiking up his leg. “Who the hell is out there?”

  The sound of a girl giggling surrounds his stall.

  “Who’s there?” he yells again.

  The lights go out.

  “He was the smartest man I ever knew,” a female voice says softly in the darkness. “And I knew a few,” she adds.

  “Who’s out there?” he yells again.

  “Told me the most amazing stories, he did!” she says with excitement. “But then he left. I thought he created me for a purpose! I love him so much,” she cries, moaning like a cat.

  The father sits fearfully in the stall, sweat running down his face.

  “I asked him one day, ‘Why am I here?’” she said softly. “‘To change the world,’ he said,” she says in a mocking tone as her voice grows deeper. “What did he mean?” She lets out a groan. “I found him one day and put my thumbs in his eyes!” Her loud cackles echo off the tiled bathroom walls.

  The man’s eyes open wide. He then feels a cold breeze blow across his face and a presence right in front of him. The dark figure cocks her head to the side.

  “Want to know what I did next?” the girl says with a deep hiss.

  The lights flicker, revealing her distorted face and her purple eyes—one large, one small, both peeking past her grimy black hair. Grinning from ear to ear, she reveals black teeth and a black tongue.

  “I split his head open and ate his soul!” she says, thrusting her hands onto his head.

  Tackling him into the corner of the stall, she puts her thumbs onto his eyes.

  “No!” he roars as he lifts her up and slams her out of the stall door and onto the sink toward the mirror.

  Smash! The mirror shatters, trickling broken glass on the ground. As the two roll around in the glass, the man tries to escape. With both of her legs, she kicks him into the wall, cracking the tiles. The she sees a long, sharp mirror shard. Grabbing it, she looks up at him with a malicious grin. Squeezing the shard tightly, blood drips from her fingers. She smiles as black drool leaks out of her mouth and down her chin.

  “Stop!” the man cries.

  “Will you tell me a story? I like stories,” she says giggling as she approaches him.

  “I have a wife and kids!” he roars.

  With an unnaturally large grin, she licks his face with her black tongue.

  “That’s what fear tastes like,” she hisses.

  Looking into her eyes, he sees clockwork in her irises.

  Stick! Stick! Stick! In and out of his gut the piece of glass goes, red pouring down his legs. Slipping in his own blood, he slides to the ground. The horrified father spits up blood.

  “Please!” he cries, gargling in his own blood while holding his hands up to block the stabs.

  Slash! She cuts and stabs at his hands. He pulls his bleeding hands back. She then continues to stab his stomach. Grabbing him by his hair, the girl plops him over onto his side. She looks at his neck then licks her lips, lifting the piece of glass up high. With brute force, she brings it down to repeatedly hack at his neck. Blood splatters everywhere, covering the walls, sinks, stalls, and floor.

  Standing outside the bathroom with her daughter, the mother notices a puddle emerging from beneath the door. The bathroom door opens to reveal nothing but a dark room. A pale foot steps from the shadow into the blood-soaked doorway. The dark-haired girl stands in the red and observes the horror on the faces of the mother and her young daughter. Blood drips to the floor as she dangles the father’s bodiless head in her grasp.

  “Aah!” the mother lets out a loud shriek of terror while the daughter screams in tears.

  A whole crowd of people turns to look at the gore-ridden scene. Tracking bloody footprints, the dark-haired girl walks toward the crowd, oblivious to the fear that surrounds her. Hands go over mouths and on top of heads; misery fills the faces of everyone in the crowd. Panic explodes. Holding the bloody head, the purple-eyed girl peers into the eyes of each android standing next to its owner as if reading the soul of each one by one. The androids’ eyes change to purple, and at that moment, the robots turn to their owners, raising their hands and bringing them down upon the owners. The crowd is submerged in gore while the dark-eyed girl dances and skips in a circle, the father’s head in her hand. She twirls around then stops, closing her eyes as if getting high off the cries and misery. The dar
k-haired girl looks at the mother and daughter as they back against the corner in fear. She smiles, and the lights go out.

  Over the radio inside the SWAT truck, there is the following announcement: “Breaking news just in from Union Station. A brutal massacre has developed and police have surrounded the train station. People are running out covered in blood and crying. It is a horrific sight. May god bring the people responsible for this to justice.

  “We don’t know how many are involved, nor do we know who is responsible. The power has been shut down, so there are no lights. That’s why we have NVGs. These assholes want the lights out? Lights out it is. When the situation dictates, the good guys wear black.”

  “Mess with the best, go down like the rest!” one of the members says, wrapping the arm strap of his rifle around his forearm.

  “Let’s get this done,” another squad member states as the SWAT truck pulls to a stop.

  Swinging the door open, the men pour out and shuffle toward the front doors.

  SWAT choppers land on top of the train station. Black-clad soldiers exit the helicopters and run to the edge of the roof, tying their repelling cables off onto piping systems. Stepping over the edge of the rooftop, the squad members position themselves.

  Standing at the front door, the Alpha squad sergeant readies his team.

  “Go! Go! Go!” the commander orders on the radio.

  On the roof, Bravo and Charlie squads leap out and quickly make their way down the side of the building at high speed, with the strong odor of burning nylon emanating from the cables.

  Bam! On the ground, Alpha squad slams through the door and disappears into the darkness. Turning on their night vision, they quickly move into the station.

  Leaping outward, both the Bravo and Charlie roof squads crash through the windows and disappear into the darkness of the station. The street crowd gasps.

  “Check your corners!” the Alpha squad leader whispers, coming to a stop.

  “Clear right!”

  “Clear left!”

  Cutting around the corner, they see a black-haired girl crouched and leaning over a body.

  “Ma’am are you okay?” the squad leader asks, approaching her from behind.

  Her head rises to the sound of his voice.