by Merita King
We headed towards cell wing three and approached the steps that led down to the door, which we could all see had been smashed to pieces. The lack of bodies on the steps told us what we didn’t want to know and Dex and I exchanged a glance and a nod. He reached towards the sensor pad and looked back at me.
“Okay guys,” I whispered. “Same procedure as in number one. Keep your heads and keep firing. Everyone ready?” Luggs adjusted his gun and nodded; his eyes staring into the gloom ahead, while Ronjo stared at me with scared eyes. “Okay Ronjo?” He nodded and raised his useless gun and I looked at Dex and nodded. “Let’s go,” I whispered as Dex slapped the sensor and all hell broke loose. It seemed as if the whole cell wing was filled with the shrieking creatures; the noise and flapping of their wings momentarily overwhelming us. We stood our ground in the doorway and fired as they soared towards us, dropping one by one as they closed the gap. As they reached the doorway they suddenly swooped around and away from our fire and headed back to the far end of the corridor and the open emergency door. For a moment I hoped they were intending to go back outside but at the last second they swooped around and headed back towards us for a second wave. Again we opened fire as they soared towards us; their screeching splitting the air painfully. The last one fell twenty feet from where we stood and we lowered our weapons as the silence enveloped us.
“Shit, oh shit,” Dex exclaimed as he ran a hand through his hair and sighed, his dark brown skin enhancing the shine of sweat on his brow. Ronjo stood between Luggs and me; his arms still held out in front, weapon at the ready. Again, I gently put my hand on his arm.
“It’s okay Ronjo,” I soothed, “it’s done. You did good. You did real well buddy, thank you for your help. Relax now okay?” He blinked a few times and lowered his arms as he sighed deeply. “Come on guys.” I stepped forward, “let’s get that door closed huh?” We ran to the end of the corridor and pulled the heavy door shut and locked the lever in place. It was as we leant on the door to get our breath back that we heard Ronjo’s yell. We spun around and I found myself staring into a pair of gaping jaws; the two opposing sets of curved fangs yellowed with age and I noticed one of them had its sharpened tip missing. Time seemed to slow and then stop as first my hearing left me, then my vision narrowed until I was looking through a long tunnel with just that face at the end. The huge, soulless black eyes bored into mine as the head retracted, readying itself to strike forwards. The jaws opened even wider and I tried to come to terms with the fact that I was about to die as the head began its strike towards me. For as long as I live I will never forget the sight of that eye imploding a split second before the back of the skull exploded. The rest of the body came to rest against my legs and abdomen; the wings spread out sideways and behind like a grey leather cloak. Slowly, I looked up to see Ronjo still holding that ridiculous AB11 Rookie at arms length, his eyes wide.
As my senses returned, I was vaguely aware of shouts to the side but I was mesmerised by the sight of Ronjo and that useless gun that just saved my life. Slowly he turned his head to look at me, his eyes still wide with shock and I saw the trickle of blood that ran from one corner of his mouth and dripped off his chin. He coughed and spat blood everywhere and looked down at himself. Still trying to force myself to calm down, I followed his gaze and saw the gaping rent in his abdomen that he struggled to hold shut as his intestines slithered through his fingers and trailed down his legs.
“No,” I yelled as I came to my senses and rushed to his side. “Ronjo, stay with us buddy.” Cold gripped me through to the bone and I held onto his hand as he dropped to the floor spitting blood and gasping for air. My heart leapt in panic as I crouched down beside him and looked into his eyes as he held my gaze and died in agony. “You did real good buddy and I’m proud to have you on my team.” He nodded slowly and his hand went limp in mine. For long moments I held onto his hand until I felt someone prying it from my grasp and reluctantly allowed Dex to steer me back along the corridor to the central hallway. Luggs was openly crying and I will admit I shed tears for the guy too. He was scared shitless but managed to conquer his fear and hold his own alongside the rest of us and he’d died saving my life and I felt like a shit leaving him down there amongst the dead prisoners.
“I don’t wanna leave him down there amongst murderers and crazies,” I said as I wiped my eyes and lit a cigarette with shaking hands. “I want to bring him back here so he can have a proper burial when this is over. He’s a hero and deserves to be treated like one huh? Please?” No one argued with me and we all agreed to retrieve him when all the cell wings were cleared and made safe. Flark revealed that cell wing seven contained nine of the creatures, three of whom had fled out through the open emergency door when they’d started firing. Kitt handed round some cold drinks before we got up and readied ourselves for one final excursion, after which we could hopefully remain safe until the Sally B returned.
Luggs kicked the door to cell wing four open and thumped his fist on the wall in anger. “I hope you’re ready for me down there cos I am gonna make you pay, assholes,” he hissed. He taught me something about himself at that moment that I never expected to learn. He cared. This rough looking, course mouthed throwback with prehistoric eyebrow ridges cared deeply about people and had a moral code that even I’d be proud to have. As we headed towards cell wing four and whatever awaited us down there, I made a vow to myself that if we got out of this with our lives, I would keep in touch with Luggs and be proud to have him as a friend. Doing the job I do means I can’t have buddies like other people do. It’s impossible for me to go round and sit and have a beer in the evening; I can’t make a date to go to a show with my friends or catch a holadau game at the weekends. You could say it’s a lonely kind of job so I try not to make attachments of any kind; not just for my own sake but for the other person too. Having friends makes you responsible for them in some ways and I don’t want to disappoint anyone by not being able to be there as a friend. It’s far easier for me to keep some detachment, but I was determined to keep in touch with Luggs as I knew he was someone whose presence was of value to me.
We descended the steps and found the door to the cell wing still intact and closed. There were no bodies outside so we prepared ourselves for another battle. Luggs reached for the door and pushed but it held firm. He looked at me and frowned.
“It won’t open,” he hissed as he pushed again, giving it all his weight. “It’s like it’s wedged from the inside.”
“What?” Dex frowned. “All of us together, come on.” We all leaned against the door and shoved as hard as we could but it moved less than an inch. “What the fuck is holding it? I’m gonna switch on the light okay guys? Get ready.” He slapped the sensor pad and the cell wing flooded with light. We peered through the window but something was blocking our view.
“What’s all that shit in front of the door?” I said as I tried to peer through the gaps in the debris that we could see piled against the door.
“Search me,” Luggs replied.
“But who could’ve,” I began but something caught my eye off to the left of my field of vision. “Hey I just saw movement off to the left. Can either of you guys see?” Dex and Luggs peered in, then I noticed Luggs eyebrows raise in surprise.
“Shit, there’s a guy walking around in there. There’s someone alive.”
“And there’s two guys over this side too,” Dex said.
“They’re alive in there?” I couldn’t believe this. “My god we have to let them know we’ve secured the place. They must be scared out of their wits.”
“Should we?” Dex said suddenly. “They’re prisoners remember. Murderers and who knows what other types of crazies are in there. Maybe we should let em keep on thinking it’s safer for them to stay barricaded in there huh?”
“He has a point Sam,” Luggs remarked and I had to admit that it was a valid point. This was more complications we really didn’t need and I scratched my head as I mulled over the problem. By pure chance I just happ
ened to glance to my left and notice a sign above the sensor pad that made me smile. “Hey look guys. Over there by the sensor pad, see? It says Cell Wing Four - Minimum Security Risk Protocol - Extended Light Privileges. That must mean there’s no crazies in there, just petty thieves and stupid kids wanting to be tough.”
“I guess the low risk guys get more light than the crazies,” Dex remarked. “Well let’s see if we can get their attention.” He began banging on the door and yelling. We yelled at the tops of our voices and pretty soon a face appeared, eyes wide with suspicion. Then another and soon there was quite a crowd looking at us looking at them. Once we persuaded them it was safe, they began to dismantle their barricade and we were soon introducing ourselves to four hundred petty thieves and fraudsters. They told us that like everyone else, they first tried escaping via the emergency door but soon found that to be a very bad idea, so they ran back inside but found creatures had entered via other emergency doors. They decided to return here and barricade themselves in by using their bunks and bits and bobs of furniture from their cells. Once or twice they’d braved an excursion to the canteen for food and water but other than that, they’d remained alive this way for four days so far.
“We have the rest of this building secured now,” I announced, “so you’ve no need to hide in here anymore. Before we go upstairs though, I must tell you that we have a woman among our group and a young boy who’s deaf and mute so please be respectful.”
A tall man with a dignified air about him stepped forward. “My name is Clavan Milgram and I embezzled money from the company I worked for. I was guilty and I got found out and sent here to pay for my crime. All of us here in this wing have done wrong but no one will come to harm from any one of us. We are thieves here Sir, not murderers or child molesters. Hopefully those have been dealt with by those creatures. No one is in danger from us, I give you my word.”
“Then you’re all welcome to come up and join us,” I smiled and shook his hand. “I need to tell you though, that I’m a Freelance Law Enforcer and I have a prisoner with me under restraint. He’s accused of murder, but my job is to take him in, not to make a judgement about his guilt or innocence. Is that gonna be a problem for anyone?”
“Who did he kill?” a small thin man asked.
“He’s accused of killing nine scientists on Agrillia 3 and there is a possibility that he killed a teenage girl here at the prison, although I’m no longer convinced of his guilt on that,” I replied and noticed Dex and Luggs look at me surprised.
“You’re not?” Dex asked.
“I thought it was cut and dried,” Luggs said.
“So did I,” I nodded, “but something happened that makes me think differently now. I’ll tell you all about it later okay. Let’s get back and introduce our new friends here to the guys upstairs.”
*****
CHAPTER FIVE
Flark and his group were more than a little surprised to see Dex, Luggs and I return with four hundred inmates and Marta’s eyes widened in fear when she found herself surrounded by so many men. A wave of pity flushed through me so I made a point of introducing her to Clavan.
“Marta, this here is Clavan Milgram. He has assured me that you have no need to be scared okay? You’ll be safe here. He’s promised me.” Clavan smiled and extended a hand, which she shook with a nervous smile. A silent prayer filtered out from my mind in the hope that he hadn’t been lying to me; I had no desire to look like a total idiot after finding her gang raped by four hundred sex starved inmates.
“I give you my word,” Clavan assured her, “that no one amongst us will be any danger to you, or anyone here. Most of us are petty thieves and many of us have families; wives and children whom we look forward to getting back to once our terms are finished. Most of us in wing four have less than a year still to serve until we gain our freedom and none of us has any desire to earn more time here.” Marta nodded and gave another nervous smile and despite only having met the guy a few minutes earlier, I felt sure he was on the level. Like I said before, I like to think I’m an excellent judge of character and I just knew I wasn’t wrong this time.
The next two jobs on my list were to retrieve Ronjo’s body and see to Nembier so I excused myself and went to the canteen store room in search of another pair of the overalls Ronjo had found the night before. While there I also found the remaining stack of tablecloths so I grabbed a couple and headed back to where the group still sat in the central hallway, talking and getting to know each other.
“Hey guys,” I called and all eyes looked at me. “A buddy of mine gave his life to save me down in cell wing three, and I don’t wanna leave him down there. Can I have a couple of volunteers to help me retrieve him?” At least forty men stood and I was touched at their readiness to help. “Thanks guys,” I smiled and led the way down into cell wing three. It seemed weird being back down here in the silence, surrounded by so many dead and it did creep me out a bit. My hands instinctively balled into fists as I kept my eyes fixed on the body I could see at the far end and marched right up to him. The floor was awash with blood and I felt the cold wetness seep through my pant leg as I knelt down by his side and spread out a couple of the tablecloths. My eyes began to well up as I put a hand on his chest. “Thanks buddy, you’re a hero, you know that?” We got him wrapped up as best we could and carried him back up and laid him down by the main entrance door alongside the remains of Meesha Roddry and Jena Marks.
My next task was to see to Nembier, so I grabbed the overalls and unlocked the bathroom. His eyes widened as he saw me enter and he drew his knees up and tried to scuffle out the way; afraid I was going to kick him again I guess. After locking us both in I fished for my keys and let him out of the restraints. He looked a little surprised to be let free but stayed sitting on the ground, obviously mistrustful of me and I have to admit that I felt bad at having lost my rag with him earlier. I’ve always prided myself on doing my job properly and to know that I lost it and behaved like a low life Merc, made me feel ashamed.
“Take off those clothes and have a wash,” I said; trying to make it sound like a friendly offer rather than an order. “Here’s a pair of clean overalls to put on so you can be clean and comfortable.” He hesitated for a moment so I stepped back and leant against the door and lit myself another of the blue eyed plank’s cigarettes. “It’s okay, go on,” I coaxed. “Look buddy, I’m sorry I lost it earlier okay? I shouldn’t have done that and I apologise and I will add a note to my report about it, so you’ve no need to feel you’re being bullied. I may be a law enforcement guy but I do have a code y’know, even if I can’t always stick to it.” He seemed pacified by my admittance so he stood and began to remove his clothes. Shock and shame enveloped me as my eyes registered his badly bruised gut that obviously gave him some pain. “I’ll see if there’s any painkillers around here for you.”
He turned the tap and waited for the basin to fill. “I didn’t do it Sam,” he said quietly. “I haven’t killed anyone. I can’t prove it though.”
“It’s not my job to judge you,” I replied before realising that by attacking him earlier, I’d done just that, “and I’m sorry I hurt you earlier. For what it’s worth though, between you and me, I don’t think you killed the girl yesterday. Don’t ask me how I know, but I don’t think you did it.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” he said as he began to wash, “and in return, I’ll offer you something.” This caught me by surprise and he smiled for the first time. “Want to know how I got out of those restraints yesterday?” I nodded. “I didn’t escape them by myself you know Sam. I’m not an expert lock picker. I’m a scientist who gets his rocks off by studying ancient languages scrawled onto stones. Killing doesn’t excite me Sam and I get no thrill from the chase. Ancient ruins are what give me a hard on my friend. I’m the ultimate boring old fart; happiest when I’m crawling around in some dusty ruin, gazing at scratches on stones. I’ve never been in the military, never learned to fly, never been married nor had any child
ren and I’ve made love seven times in all of my sixty two years of life. One talent I do have though is an excellent memory and I never forget a face.”
“So why are you telling me all this, and what’s it got to do with how you got out of the restraints?” I asked, bemused but very interested.
“Because the person who let me out of them is someone I’ve seen before.” This was the last thing I’d expected to hear and my shock must’ve been obvious because he smiled again.
“And who is that?”
“Well Sam, that’s the first question that needs an answer.”
“And what would that answer be?”
“You’ll find that by asking the second question.” Now he was being cryptic and I was getting annoyed. He was getting one over on me but I couldn’t blame the guy for playing this little game. How the fuck was I to know who let him out of the restraints and more importantly, why? Ahh, now the penny was beginning to drop so I smiled triumphantly.
“And why would this unknown person want to let you out of the restraints?”