Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy)

by Jake Bible

  “It was an act,” Agnatha said then turned to one of the girls behind her. “Someone get me a sweater or something. Jeezus it’s chilly in the arena.”

  “An act?” Jenny cried. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Hold on,” the Mayor said as he listened to something.

  “It’s happening,” Talaria said as she cocked her head, hearing the same thing.

  “Are you listening to coms?” Dog asked

  “It is happening,” the Mayor replied. “Right on time.”

  “What’s happening?” Jenny asked.

  “Follow us,” Talaria grinned. “Now you learn the true nature of Eden.”

  “You better tell me what the fuck is going on,” Dog growled.

  “We will,” Agnatha said. “You have to trust us.”

  ***

  “The main control room,” the Mayor said as he led Dog and Jenny into the massive room. Banks upon banks of vid screens, control panels, audio readings, weather read-outs, you name it, it was there.

  And the room was packed with people.

  Not dirty, toothless idiots, but clean, well-organized and hard working techs.

  “What the fuck?” Dog asked.

  “We aren’t a bunch of cannibals and polygamists,” the Mayor said. “That was just bullshit to get you riled up.”

  “The slits?” Jenny asked.

  “That’s a nickname for the girls that go into the Maze for final training,” Agnatha said. “It refers to them being able to slit your throat, not what’s between their legs.”

  “I have no idea of what’s going on,” Dog said, shaking his head.

  “One man, one wife,” the Mayor said. “No mortal combat. Women can use guns, men can use guns. Men have more wasteland training, that is true, but women are trained better at hand to hand combat. That’s just to overcome the size difference.”

  The Mayor gripped Dog by the shoulders.

  “I know what went on in our Boiler village,” the Mayor said. “I didn’t leave because I was worse than your father. I left because I couldn’t be like your father. There’s too much horror in the wasteland already.”

  “So why fucking trick me?” Dog snapped. “Why not just be up front with me?”

  “Because it’s easy for a man to say he’ll lead something that is already good,” Talaria replied. “We needed a man that would lead even if he was shown nothing but Hell.”

  “But people died,” Jenny cried. “Your own people!”

  “The girls in the Maze were unfortunate and I have already apologized for that,” the Mayor said solemnly. “But the guard Dog killed? He had been abusing his niece at night. He was headed for the wall anyway. The other one you didn’t kill, Ms. Timson? He was just as bad. And he has already been placed on the wall.”

  Dog looked at all the tech around him. “How did you do this?”

  “We started slow,” Talaria said. “Built it bit by bit. More people found us and helped. Those that couldn’t live by decent rules were dealt with. Eden is a place of mutual respect. But most of all it is a place of safety. Anyone that disrespects that no longer deserves the privilege of living here.”

  “We have more tech than some of the greatest city/states,” the Mayor smiled. “At least when there were city/states. This room rivals your Stronghold.”

  “Come,” Agnatha said. “Let’s get cleaned up and eat. It’s a lot to take in.”

  “You still in?” the Mayor smiled.

  “Yeah,” Dog said. “I just wish it hadn’t all been an act.”

  “I’m sorry for that,” the Mayor said. “I just had to be sure. We just had to be sure.”

  Thirty-Nine

  Despite being concrete the structure was surprisingly intact. The coastal weather had done its job on the building, but it wasn’t crumbling and falling apart.

  “That’s where we try to shut off the shield?” Mathew asked as the mechs stopped a cautious distance from the building. “There’s a generator in there?”

  “Yes,” Themopolous replied. “It’s the main generator that controls the other sub-generators spread out across the continent. If we can shut this down then the whole shield goes down.”

  “Why not just blow it?” Rachel asked.

  “Because the power supply would obliterate anything and everything within one hundred miles,” Themopolous responded. “We don’t want to do that.”

  “Yeah, no shit,” Rachel agreed.

  “So how do we turn it off?” Mathew asked. “The Canadians have an override.”

  “Well,” Themopolous began. “I’m hoping Rachel’s ability might be able to block that override.”

  “Is that safe?” Mathew asked, alarmed.

  “I’ll be fine,” Rachel said. “I can handle it.”

  “You don’t even know how you do what you do!” Mathew protested. “Just trying could turn your brain to jelly!”

  “It won’t,” Rachel argued. “I can already feel some of the components in there.”

  “What?” Mathew cried. “Knock it off!”

  “Calm down, Matty,” Rachel said. “I’m not exerting myself.”

  Rachel?

  Rachel hesitated then took a deep breath and responded. “Beth?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Themopolous asked.

  Are you at the shield generator?

  “Yes,” Rachel replied, ignoring Themopolous.

  Good. Can you see us in the bay? I’ve created a platform base for us to hold out on, but we don’t have much time. The Three’s ships are heading straight for us. They’ll be here in mere hours.

  Rachel squinted into the sunlight that reflected off the water beyond the beach line. They were still far enough away that she couldn’t make out details, and the shield itself seemed to interfere with visibility, but the platform was there.

  “I see you,” Rachel replied. “What armaments do you have?”

  Anything I want to make.

  “Tell her to switch to com,” Themopolous said. “That way we can all hear.”

  Rachel glanced over her shoulder at the doctor and wondered how much she knew. “Can you switch to com?”

  No. The shield is interfering with our com system. Without the sat hook-up I’m the only link.

  “Shit,” Rachel responded. “Com won’t get through the shield.”

  “Great,” Themopolous frowned.

  “Who the hell are you two talking to?” Mathew asked.

  “Hold on, Matty,” Rachel said. “I’ll fill you in in a minute.”

  “Why can’t I hear the other voice?” Mathew asked. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Just chill!” Rachel snapped.

  “Okay, I’m chilling,” Mathew said.

  Everything okay?

  “It’s fine,” Rachel said.

  So basically we can hold off the Three for a short time, but they will out gun us and rip us to shreds at some point. We need that shield down.

  “I know, but how?” Rachel asked.

  I can help you. Between the two of us I think we can make it happen. But it may not feel so good.

  “Why’s that?” Rachel asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

  Because you are a natural technopath and I’m a clone engineered to manipulate biochrome. You can handle the regular components of the shield generator, but I can’t. What I can do is support you, basically sending my will to you.

  “You’re my backup power?” Rachel asked. “Is that it?”

  Something like that.

  Rachel looked at the concrete structure, not seeing any entrance or windows.

  “How do we get inside?” she asked.

  That I don’t know. We don’t have any info on that other than a main entrance on the coastal side. But I don’t think that’s viable.

  “Why not?”

  ***

  “What the fuck?” Mathew asked as he stood next to Rachel and Themopolous, all of them staring at the insanity before them. “Is it alive?”

&
nbsp; “It has to be a machine,” Themopolous said.

  “It is,” Rachel acknowledged. “I can actually…feel it.”

  A mass of tentacle like chords were knotted across the entrance to the generator. They pulsed to an unheard rhythm, as if there was a heart at the center of the knot. Rachel took a step forward, carbine to her shoulder and the mass began to twitch.

  “Uh, don’t do that,” Mathew said. Rachel took a step back and the mass relaxed back into its steady pulsing.

  “How do we get past it?” Themopolous asked. “Use one of the mechs?”

  “Yeah,” Mathew agreed. “I can just stomp over here and rip those things off.”

  “No, you can’t,” Rachel said. “You feel that in the air?”

  “Feel what?” Mathew asked.

  Rachel pushed up his sleeve and waved her hand over his arm. All the hair on his arm stood straight, static electricity crackling between them.

  “They are charged,” Rachel said. “You grab those with a mech, or anything mechanical, and it will get fried.”

  “Blow them up?” Themopolous suggested. “I’m just spit balling here.”

  “We could try,” Mathew said. “But wrong charge and the whole place goes boom. Plus with that much static we’d blow ourselves up before we could set the charges.”

  “I can take it down,” Rachel said.

  She walked forward and the mass twitched again. With each step there was more and more activity until a tentacle shot out and swiped at Rachel’s head. She ducked and rolled, just avoiding getting her head taken off. More tentacles shot out at her and she dove and dodged, trying to keep from being caught.

  “Rache!” Mathew shouted as a tentacle snagged her about the waist and pulled her into the mass. “RACHEL!”

  She was covered over and within a split second lost from view. Mathew started to run towards the mass, but Themopolous held him back.

  “Don’t!” she cried. “Just wait! Let her do what she can!”

  “It’s going to kill her!” Mathew protested as he yanked his arm away. “I can’t let that happen!”

  “No!” Themopolous shouted as she ran after Mathew.

  A tentacle shot out and slapped Mathew in the head, knocking him off his feet, sending him skidding across the sandy dirt. Themopolous bent to check him and almost was hit, but she dove to the ground under the swiping tentacle.

  “Jeezus,” she swore as she placed her hand on Mathew’s neck, checking his pulse. “Dumb shit.”

  The mass of tentacles started to pulse faster and faster, its rhythm becoming frantic. Themopolous watched in horror as the mass started to expand, pulsing outward further and further until it exploded in a shower of metal and hydraulic fluid. She ducked her head, but caught several pieces across the scalp, stunning her.

  When Themopolous opened her eyes she saw Rachel standing over her and Mathew, covered in grease.

  “That wasn’t fun,” Rachel said as she held out a hand and helped Themopolous to her feet.

  “It didn’t look like it,” Themopolous replied. “Help me get him up.”

  They both lifted Mathew to his feet and walked him over to the entrance. A simple key pad was by the doorway and Rachel placed her hand on it. It took a couple of seconds, but it finally responded and a door slid open for them. Lights inside began to switch on along floor and the ceiling, illuminating a long corridor.

  “Did you consciously do that?” Themopolous asked as they carried Mathew inside.

  “I think so,” Rachel said. “I wanted it to happen and it did.”

  “Okay,” Themopolous replied. “Any pain or discomfort from the effort?”

  “No,” Rachel shook her head. “I feel fine.”

  You’re in?

  “Yeah,” Rachel replied to Beth.

  Good job. Whatever that security measure was it was strong. I didn’t think you could disable it.

  “It wasn’t that hard,” Rachel said, Themopolous watching her closely. “Kinda came naturally.”

  Good. That means you have some strength in you. You’ll need that strength for what comes next.

  “What comes next?” Rachel asked.

  The generator. Once you get passed the other security measures.

  “What security measures?” Rachel asked.

  “Those,” Themopolous said. “Oh, shit.”

  ***

  The shield generator had been set up hundreds of years earlier, maintained secretly by the Canadians during covert missions through the wasteland. As the years progressed and it was apparent that more security would be needed in case wasteland survivors became too curious about the structure, additional measures were taken.

  Rachel and Themopolous stared as the security measures activated.

  “What the fuck?” Rachel said as she lowered Mathew to the ground and put her carbine to her shoulder. “Are they deaders?”

  “I don’t think so,” Themopolous said as the pods hanging from the ceiling split and dropped their contents onto the concrete floor. “There’s no way they would have survived this long.”

  “Then what are they?’ Rachel asked as she took a bead on one of the creatures.

  The things lifted themselves to their feet, their skin nearly translucent, their internal organs pulsing with fluid. They were bipedal, but that was the last similarity between them and the deaders Rachel and Themopolous were used to seeing.

  Where arms should have been only razor sharp blades flicked and slashed through the air, taking away any doubt as to their purpose. Their feet were wide and flat, attached to short, thick, muscular legs. Their heads were eyeless, but there wasn’t a question they knew where Themopolous and Rachel stood.

  Their faces were only teeth. Very long teeth.

  “Can you feel them?” Themopolous asked Rachel. “Or are they strictly organic?”

  “No, they have some metal in them,” Rachel said as she started to feel sick to her stomach at the sight of the approaching creatures. “But I can’t figure out what.”

  That’s the BC. It is bioorganic metal so it will feel confusing. Just focus on the metal part and you can overcome it.

  Rachel stared at one of the dozen creatures that were slowly making their way towards them. She could feel the metal components respond to her will and she concentrated hard. In a few seconds the creature began to shake and shudder. Rachel pushed her will and focused on destroying the creature. Just as she thought she couldn’t do anything the creature stopped shaking. Then exploded, splattering the others with multi-colored fluids.

  “That seemed to work,” Themopolous said as she steadied her side arm at the other creatures. “Can you do that with the rest?”

  The things didn’t wait to hear Rachel’s answer as they leapt into the air, covering nearly half the distance in one leap.

  “OH, FUCK!” Rachel screamed as she and Themopolous opened fire.

  Bullets tore through the transparent skin and Themopolous had to push aside her medical curiosity as she watched the slugs tear their way through the bodies. Internal organs burst and split open, filling torsos with splattered liquids and oozing fluids.

  The smell that hit them was almost enough to knock both Rachel and Themopolous off their feet. It was obvious that the creatures were an abominable combination of life and death, held together with technology specially designed for their purpose.

  “There’s too many!” Themopolous shouted as she ejected an empty magazine and slapped home a full one. “We have to fall back!”

  Rachel ignored the doctor and kept up her attack. Her innate gift helped direct her aim and each one of her bullets found its target. Instead of head shots, Rachel directed her fire at a throbbing red glow in the center of each creature’s torso. Even as they leapt from wall to wall, trying to avoid the gunfire, Rachel found her targets.

  By the time her carbine clicked empty, her last magazine spent, there was a pile of leaking bodies just a couple feet from Rachel and Themopolous. Mathew lay unconscious behind them, blissfully
unaware of the danger they had faced.

  “Jeezus,” Themopolous swore as she kept a wary eye on the pile, too experienced to believe that the things were down for good. “How did you do that, Rachel?”

  The mech pilot looked over at Themopolous, dazed. “Huh?”

  “Every shot was a kill shot,” Themopolous observed. “I think I hit maybe one in ten, but you nailed each and every one.”

  “Yeah,” Rachel said woozily. “I guess I did.”

  “Sit,” Themopolous ordered, using all of her will to ignore the stench that filled the corridor. “Rest a moment.”

  Rachel?

  “What?” Rachel asked, taking Themopolous’s advice and plopping to the floor.

  You can’t rest. There isn’t time. You have to press on and shut down the generator. Once the shield is down you can rest. But everything is riding on you now.

  “Right,” Rachel nodded. “Of course it is.”

  She slowly pushed herself to her feet.

  “What are you doing?” Themopolous exclaimed. “Whatever that voice is telling you to do you need to ignore it! If you don’t rest you will die!”

  “If I do rest then many more than me will die,” Rachel said sadly. “Hard choices in a hard world, Doc.”

  “Jeezus,” Themopolous swore. “Where to now then?”

  ***

  “Hey…,” Mathew moaned. “What the fuck is that smell?”

  “We ran into security,” Rachel said as they stopped and let Mathew steady himself on his feet. “Can you walk?”

  “As soon as this ride stops spinning,” Mathew said. “What happened?”

  “You took a bit of a smack to the head,” Themopolous answered. “That’s my medical assessment.”

  “Oh,” Mathew said. “So is that stink in my head?”

  “No,” Rachel said. “It’s everywhere.”

  Mathew pushed away from them carefully and held his hands out. “I can do this,” he said as he took a couple of wobbly steps. “Just not quickly.”

  “We haven’t hit any more obstacles,” Themopolous stated. “So be prepared to fight, Mathew. There’s bound to be something before we hit the generator.”