by Ike Hamill
The sound of the destruction was immediately followed by a rise in the hum. Madelyn hadn’t even noticed the sound before that moment. The next second, she heard a sound that she was too familiar with—the click of a Roamer.
“What have you people done?” Madelyn asked with a sneer.
The woman approached the crackling console and tried to stab at one of the switches. Madelyn brought her aim to the woman’s chest.
“I said we’re going to find out together.”
A man at one of the other consoles pushed one of his buttons. “The power is still escalating. We’re losing containment.”
Madelyn put a bullet into his podium as well. Her aim wasn’t great—he was farther away—but the bullet at least scared him away from the controls.
“You have to get out of the triangle,” the other woman said to Ryan. “We can’t shut it down.”
“Has everyone here forgotten who is in control?” Madelyn asked.
The door on the opposite side of the room opened. She recognized those two—it was Horatio and Patton. The young man seemed to be dragging the older.
“You,” Madelyn said. She pointed to the woman who was still at her console. “Back up, right now. Patton, you stop where you are.”
She had too many moving parts and not enough guns to cover them. Madelyn was going to have to make a decision pretty quick. The rising hum of the machines was escalating the tension rapidly. Nobody was really fearing for their lives though. If they had really thought that something was going to blow up, they would have run regardless of the guns.
“Madelyn,” Ryan said. She still had one gun locked on him—he seemed like the most dangerous person in the room. He kept his seat. He alone seemed to know how to be obedient.
“What?” she asked.
“Listen to that sound. You have to let these people do their jobs or we’ll lose containment and we’re all dead.”
“Better dead than an Optioner,” Madelyn said.
Ryan didn’t get a chance to respond. The coils on the frame began to rattle. The click of a Roamer was almost drowned out as the hum rose to a crazy pitch. Ryan’s body went rigid with pain. A gurgling cry escaped his throat as he fell from his chair and landed on the floor.
“It’s going critical,” one woman said. Her terminal was still alive with blue fire, but she ran forward and slammed her palm down on one of the buttons. Madelyn swung a gun to her a fraction of a second too late. When the second woman went for her console, Madelyn was ready.
The sound of the gun seemed to freeze everything. The bullet tore through the woman’s leg and she collapsed on her way to her console. For a moment, the final man of the triangle had looked like he was going to go for his console. His hands went up and he backed away as soon as the woman hit the floor.
Ryan let out a fresh scream.
Madelyn finally saw the source of his agony—his chest was gone. The new hole in his shirt had to be ten centimeters across. It looked like Ryan had been splashed on the chest with some terrifying acid. Blood gushed from the wound. She saw fragments of jagged ribs exposed to the air. His flesh had been melted away.
“Someone has to help him,” Patton said.
Madelyn couldn’t cover so many people at once. Patton made it through the doorway before she fixed her aim on him.
More people arrived.
Another console—the one she hadn’t shot—burst out with blue flames. The humming began to subside. The loudest sound in the room became Ryan’s moans and bubbling respiration. Patton came back in with a black bag. The man who had manned the third console was starting to back towards the doorway.
“STOP!” Madelyn screamed. “Everyone stop. Next one to move gets a bullet.”
They all turned into statues—that was good. Madelyn realized that she recognized the latest people who had entered. It was Harper and Jacob. That was also good.
Her eyes landed on Patton.
“Drop that bag,” she said to him.
“It’s med kits,” he said. “You have to let me treat Ryan and Luca.” He pointed to Ryan and the woman with a bullet hole in her leg.
“Jacob,” Madelyn said. “Take that bag from him and see to the wounded.”
Patton dropped the bag as Jacob approached. Some of the wraps spilled to the floor. Madelyn breathed again when Jacob was moving towards the injured people. She was starting to make sense of everything.
“Everyone else, pull together in a group. You want to run for it? Go ahead. I’ve got great aim and I could use one less distraction.”
She followed them with her guns as she brought everyone closer together. Harper circled the prisoners. Madelyn handed her one of the guns.
“Good. This is all starting to make a lot more sense,” Madelyn said.
The woman couldn’t hold her tongue anymore. “You have to let us verify the containment on the coils,” she said. “We don’t know if it came back to stasis after the burnout.”
“If we die, we’ll die together. Keep your jargon to yourself,” Madelyn said. “Harper, go see what’s in there.” She pointed her eyes to the room where Patton had retrieved the bag.
Harper went to look. She reported from the doorway. “Looks like a makeshift dormitory. There’s a guy in here. He’s unconscious with a wounded hand.”
“Weapons?” Madelyn asked. “Exits?”
Harper shook her head.
“Good,” Madelyn said. “Everyone in there.”
She kept her gun pointed until Patton, Horatio, and the others filed through the doorway.
“Close it and keep guard from the outside,” Madelyn said. “I need to break some equipment.”
Harper nodded.
Madelyn crossed the room.
“How we looking?” she asked Jacob. He dispensed a wrap to the woman. She tightened her face in pain as she applied it to her leg.
“She’ll be okay,” Jacob said. He offered a hand and helped her to a chair. “I don’t know about him. Something erased a lot of his chest. I don’t know if it will seal or not.”
“Serves him right. He was down here trying to take the Option.”
Jacob’s eyes went wide.
“Get her over to that room with the rest of them.”
Jacob moved to the back of the woman’s chair and began to drag her across the cement floor.
Madelyn moved to Ryan. He was motionless on the floor, looking up at nothing. His eyes were clouded over. It reminded her of how Harper had looked when they rescued her from the woods. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since then.
“Serves you right, you arrogant bastard,” Madelyn said as she looked down at the man. “You think you’re better than the rest of us? You think you deserve to live forever?”
“No more than you,” he moaned.
She glanced over to Jacob when he banged on the door. One of the prisoners opened it from the inside. Jacob backed away and ordered Patton to take possession of the woman with the hurt leg. Madelyn thought of Gabriel. Her beloved David had put a hole in Gabe’s leg in much the same way.
She shook her head. She couldn’t afford to spend time in the past. There was too much going on.
The prisoners took in their comrade as Jacob and Harper covered the door.
Movement caught Madelyn’s eye before she heard the sound of the hinges of the outside door.
She raised her gun and fired without thinking.
# # # # #
She didn’t hit a thing. The bullet ricocheted off the wall. The two young men were almost too quick to track. One went left and the other right. Madelyn swung her gun to the right. If she missed again, she didn’t want to risk hitting Jacob or Harper.
She recognized the kid as she fired her second shot. It was the young man who had been bound upstairs—the one with blood all over his face. Madelyn’s second shot missed as well. The kid didn’t slow until he got to Ryan’s limp form.
Madelyn took careful aim as the kid began to drag Ryan by one of his legs.
�
��Mac!” Jacob shouted.
She turned just in time. The other young man—the one who had the bad hand and Elijah’s knife—was sprinting at her. Jacob and Harper were directly behind him, but Madelyn didn’t have a choice. She swung the gun over to him and pulled the trigger. She saw the bullet tear into his stomach. It was the only shot she got at him before he batted her hand away.
His momentum carried him into Madelyn. She got a hand up to block the knife as she tumbled backwards with the force of his impact.
He was much too strong. They skidded across the concrete floor. Madelyn landed on her back. The young man’s bloody hand was pressed against her neck while his knife tried to find her chest.
She wedged her arm against his and felt the pressure of his attack trying to dislocate her shoulder or even break her arm.
A gun went off.
Madelyn saw insanity in his eyes.
She was bracing his torso with her right hand. She let it slip a little to create some momentum. Using that impetus, she pushed her foot into the floor and started him rolling. Madelyn could only hope that if she got his weight off of her, she might be able to break free.
They rolled into one of the consoles from Ryan’s procedure. It rocked and then tumbled.
“Caleb!” a voice called.
Madelyn felt herself lifted up and spun around. The knife was pressed to her side as he held her aloft by the back of her neck. Madelyn realized that this had never been a struggle for him. He was able to toss her around at will. He pointed Madelyn towards the gun in Harper’s hand. He was using her as a shield to make his way towards the door.
“Shoot him!” Madelyn screamed.
They were on the move.
Harper shook her head—she was unwilling to take the shot.
“Shoot!”
Jacob had retrieved the other gun.
Madelyn felt a jolt as her captor tugged open the door and dragged her outside to the night.
She saw the building retreat as she struggled to get free. Harper and Jacob came through the door and fanned to the sides, trying to find a shot. A moment later, Madelyn was free. He tossed her down and ran. Harper and Jacob both fired.
She struggled up to her knees as Jacob approached.
“Did you get him?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. He was too fast. You shot him in the belly, but I don’t think it even slowed him down.”
The end of his sentence was almost lost in the sound from the basement. The hum rose to a roar and was accompanied by a sputtering, crackling sound.
“He’s still in there,” Madelyn said. She got to her feet.
“Aunt Mac!” Jacob yelled.
She was already running. When she whipped open the door, she saw the source of the sound. The toppled console had skidded towards the cage of coils. The coils were rattling and shaking. They seemed to be producing the sound. One coil broke free of the cage and began to bang against the others. Green and orange sparks jumped between the scaffolding of the cage.
“Elijah!” Madelyn yelled. She heard a banging from the room where they had imprisoned the dirty criminals. Madelyn ignored it and ran for the opposite stairwell. That’s where she had last seen Elijah.
She was halfway across the room when the explosion ripped apart the devices in the center of the floor. Madelyn kept her focus and ran. The pressure pushed at her eyes and compressed her chest. Daggers drove into her eardrums. The force of the blast tried to push her off course, but she fought it. As she reached the doorway, she turned and saw the far wall beginning to collapse.
# # # # #
She saw him coming down the stairs. Elijah was propping up Amelia and had Brook over his shoulder. Madelyn pulled at Amelia, catching her as Elijah released his grip. Barely able support herself, Madelyn executed a controlled fall down the stairs.
The heavy door to the outside wouldn’t budge. Madelyn left Amelia to hold onto the railing as she put her foot against the wall for leverage. The pain that lit up her arm made her pull harder, but it accomplished nothing. Elijah lowered Brook to the stairs and joined her.
Elijah looked through the other doorway to the room that had exploded. He ducked back as another blast ripped the air.
Madelyn could barely hear him as he yelled to Amelia.
“Is there another way out?” he asked.
She pointed.
Elijah motioned for Madelyn to help Amelia while he collected Brook. Madelyn saw that Brook’s eyes were open—she was semiconscious but still paralyzed. Amelia pointed the way while Madelyn helped support her weight. They made their way quickly down the wall. Madelyn expected another blast any second, but they got lucky. They ducked through to a utility area. The building shook around them.
Amelia pointed towards another door. It was up a half-flight of open stairs. She ushered Amelia up and then went for the door. This one swung outwards. Madelyn slammed into the horizontal bar and the door scraped open. Amelia slipped through the gap.
Elijah lowered Brook down from his shoulder. Madelyn went through and caught the young woman on the other side. Her fingers were able to grip Madelyn’s.
Madelyn dragged her backwards and Amelia helped get her to the ground.
Elijah followed them through the door.
“Get them away from the building. I’m going back for the others,” Elijah said.
She could barely hear him. It felt like her head was stuffed with cotton.
“What others?” Madelyn asked.
He pointed and disappeared back inside.
Madelyn turned back to Amelia. “Can you handle this?” Madelyn asked.
Amelia pulled at Brook’s arm. The woman was dead weight.
“I’m not sure,” Amelia said. She looked up at the building as it shook again. The foundation had been damaged. The whole structure looked like it could topple at any second.
“I’ll be back,” Madelyn said. She ran for the door. Elijah was already rounding the corner into the dangerous room. Madelyn went after him as fast as she could. Some of her injuries were starting to register. She touched a hand to her side and wasn’t surprised when it came back bloody.
When she saw where he was headed, it dawned on her what Elijah had meant. He was going to rescue the prisoners. They had been engaged in a heinous experiment, trying to cheat death and betray humanity, but Elijah was still going to save them. She nearly turned back.
While he fought with the jammed door, the east wall of the building began to fall. She saw chunks of the ceiling crashing down as the building shifted. She ran to help him.
Madelyn arrived just as he managed to get the door open a crack. Hands came around the door from the other side to add more force. Soon there was enough room for the first person to squeeze through. It was the woman that Madelyn had shot.
She had a bad limp, but managed to stay upright. Madelyn pointed her across the room. The door on the near side was blocked by debris. The woman was quickly caught by the next woman. She slowed to help her comrade. Madelyn was surprised that they had any humanity left in them. The others came out one at a time, helped by Elijah. He brought up the rear, helping to support Carter.
Madelyn ran as hard as she could to catch the women in front. They were going the wrong way. She yelled at them and pointed to the utility room. They didn’t hear her. She shoved Patton in the right direction and pointed for him to lead the way.
Madelyn ran after the women.
She caught up with them as they fought with the blocked door.
“Hey! You have to go this way,” Madelyn shouted. She could barely hear her own voice.
They looked to the stairs and back to Madelyn. Clearly, neither one of them trusted her. She was tempted to leave them, but then thought of Elijah. He would probably go back for them too.
In the other room, the collapse was beginning to gather steam. A whole corner of the building looked like it was seconds from falling.
“Come!” Madelyn said. She reached and grabbed one woman’s arm
. She pulled until they relented. She dragged them after the others.
Elijah fell back to help. Together, they pushed the women through the doorway as another chunk of ceiling fell behind them.
Dust filtered down from above.
Madelyn feared that the whole place was about to collapse.
She looked ahead. Patton and Horatio were banging at the door.
Somehow, it had closed and was blocked. She pushed past everyone and climbed the half-flight of stairs.
“It won’t open,” Patton yelled.
Madelyn threw herself against the door. She saw a few centimeters of the evening sky, but that was it. She looked back to Elijah.
The wall shook.
A plume of dust billowed through the doorway.
They all turned as the room they had just left finished its collapse. The wall that separated them from the destruction buckled and then exploded towards them.
Horatio backed into the railing and flipped over to the other side. Patton pressed himself against the door as if he could squeeze through the tiny gap. One of the other men began to climb the stairs towards Madelyn. His crazy eyes made her shrink back. He looked capable of anything.
Elijah slipped out from under the shoulder of the woman he was supporting. He pushed past the others and pulled Patton away from the door.
Tendons popped out on his neck and he bared his teeth as he pushed against the stuck door.
Madelyn turned back to see the wall collapse. The room began to self-destruct in slow motion. The ceiling fell in patches. The walls tumbled in slow increments.
Madelyn put her hand on Elijah’s arm. He turned. Together, they watched the world end.
Chapter 30
{Trial}
TWO WEEKS LATER…
“THAT’S your sworn testimony?” Cleo asked.
Madelyn looked down at her hands. This was her second trial. At least this time she wasn’t blindfolded. She could look out and see the hate in the eyes of the citizens.
“You’re here to tell us that you were killed trying to save those people who you imprisoned?” Cleo asked.