by Jake Bible
“So you people have been going in and out of the facility a different way, haven’t you?” Diaz asks.
Cole stops grumbling and whips his head towards the woman.
“Shit. You’re right, Diaz,” he says then aims his 9mm at the woman. “You’re going to take us to the other entrance.”
“I am going to do no such thing,” the woman responds.
Cole places his finger on the trigger and pulls back the hammer with his thumb.
“Then looks like you’re going to be a sacrifice out here instead of in your fucking sacred passage,” Cole says.
“Then that is my fate,” the woman says. Before Cole can even blink, she steps forward, grabs the pistol, places it to her forehead, and pushes Cole’s finger down on the trigger. The muzzle flash is muted by the woman’s blood and brains spraying everywhere. Cole jumps back as the Code Monkey’s body falls to the ground.
“Dammit!” Cole yells.
“TL, we can’t stay here,” Diaz says. “That gunshot just told every Z down here where dinner’s at.”
“I know, I know,” Cole says. “But, how the hell are we going to find another secret entrance? Secret is secret for a fucking reason.”
“Rats,” Diaz says.
“What?” Cole asks.
“Rats,” Diaz repeats. “They always find a way.”
“So fucking what?” Cole responds.
The sound of groans and a mass of shuffling feet echoes down the corridor behind them.
“Diaz, just say what you need to fucking say,” Cole snaps.
“We look for rats,” Diaz says. “If these people have been going back and forth through a different tunnel then the rats will be too. My dad was a rat catcher as a teenager before he joined the Teams. He always said if I got stuck somewhere to follow the rats.”
“Why the fuck would rats lead us to the Cheyenne facility and not just outside?” Cole asks.
“Because the Zs have that way blocked,” Diaz says. “The rats will be high-tailing it out of this bunker and headed for a safer place.”
“I’m not sure you know what you are talking about, but it’s not like I have a fucking choice,” Cole says. The groans and shuffling feet are considerably closer. “Gonna have to trust you and your dad’s special rat knowledge. Lead on.”
“Search the ground,” Diaz says.
“For what?” Cole asks.
“Rats,” Diaz says. “Aren’t you listening to me?”
“Rats. Right,” Cole says. “Look for the rats.”
They move off away from the sealed door with Diaz in the lead.
“Never thought a mission would be decided by if we do or do not find rats,” Cole says.
“Are you really surprised?” Diaz chuckles then lowers his voice to a whisper as several moans behind them answer his laughter. “We’re DTA. Of course we have to follow rats.”
“Yeah,” Cole snorts. “Of course we do.”
***
“How far are we going?” Shep asks. “If the tunnel from the front doors to the interior doors at the main entrance is five miles then how long is this tunnel?”
“Has to be at least ten miles or more,” Val says.
“We will travel eight miles precisely before we reach the entrance to the cathedral,” Skye says.
“Eight miles?” Sister asks. “That doesn’t seem right. When you say the cathedral, you mean the nuclear control room, right?”
“I mean the cathedral,” Sky says. “It is what it is called. It is what it was named. That is where we’re going.”
“This no answer bullshit is starting to wig me out,” Stanford says. “They’ve already shown us the way. I say we ditch the nutjobs and double time it to the facility on our own.”
The Code Monkeys stop moving and all turn to Stanford.
“Good one, Ford,” Val says. “You couldn’t have kept that thought in your head?”
“Yeah. Sorry,” Stanford says and holds out a hand. “I was just talking out loud. By ditching you guys I didn’t mean kill you. Just leave you behind so we can finish our mission.”
“Your mission is our mission,” Skye says. “And you will need us to complete it. The sacred passage is not for the sighted.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Stanford asks. “Because I’m really, really sighted. I even have NVGs on which makes me super sighted.”
“The Code Monkeys will take on the trials for you, is what I mean,” Skye says. “We will make sure you arrive at the cathedral to finish your mission.”
“And stop the cannies,” Sister says.
“If that is what must be done,” Skye says.
Sister shakes her head and motions down the long, pitch black tunnel.
“Not much choice now, huh?” Sister sighs.
“There has never been a choice,” Skye says. “It has all been predestined.”
“Then lets predestine our asses along,” Stanford says.
Skye smiles and her teeth shine a bright gray in Stanford’s NVGs. The man shivers at the sight. He is not the only one.
***
Three miles in and the Mates are violently informed as to what Skye meant by the Code Monkeys taking on the trials for them.
A woman, small and agile, leads the group. She stops and holds up her hands. The rest stop instantly, nearly causing the Mates to walk right into the backs of the blind men and women.
“It begins,” Skye says. “Anita? This is your trial.”
The woman in the lead nods her head and takes a step forward, a heavy pipe in her hand.
Before the Mates can even react there is a click and a swoosh. The woman, Anita, dives into a forward roll, bringing the pipe in front of her face as she comes up to a knee. A loud clang is heard and Anita is knocked back a couple of feet onto her ass.
“Anita?” Skye asks. “Have you completed the trial?”
“Not yet, Skye,” Anita replies. “One more obstacle to go.”
Anita picks herself up into a crouch. She doesn’t move, just waits there, her entire body shaking with tension.
“What the hell is going on?” Henshaw asks.
“Shhhh!” Skye snaps.
Anita springs ahead, raising the pipe up to her shoulder as she twists her body to the side, using the wall of the tunnel to push off from with her feet. She flips into the air, her back arching, as the pipe is knocked from her grip. She does a backwards handspring and lands on her feet, her chest heaving from the exertion.
She places a hand to her right shoulder and it comes away black with blood. She sniffs it and nods then stands straight up.
“I have been marked, but I am not injured badly,” Anita says. “The first trial is complete. We may proceed.”
“You have done well, Anita,” Skye says. “You will be worthy to enter the cathedral.”
“Thank you, Skye,” Anita says and nods.
“Yeah, we’re going to need some explaining,” Stanford says, his M-4 up and pointed at Skye’s head. “Like now.”
The rest of the Mates move in close to Stanford, their weapons up as well.
Sister pats him on the shoulder then moves away from the group of Mates.
“Hold on,” she says as she walks forward. She approaches Anita and holds out a hand. “Can I take a look?”
“Yes,” Anita says. “Please do. My wound is a badge of honor.”
Sister leans close so her NVGs pick up the details of Anita’s shoulder wound. She studies it for a few seconds then nods and moves away, her attention focused on the walls of the tunnel.
“Sister?” Val asks. “What do you see?”
“Trials,” Sister replies, her fingers tracing a long groove in the wall. She turns to Skye and holds up her fingers which are black with old grease. “Trials.”
“Yes. Trials,” Skye says. “The sacred passage is only a way for true warriors to go.”
“This isn’t a normal tunnel, is it?” Sister says.
“This is the sacred passage to the cathedral,” Skye
says. “It is the only way for us to complete our mission which is your mission.”
“I swear to god I’ll start shooting if someone doesn’t tell us what the fuck is going on!” Stanford shouts.
“Don’t shoot,” Sister says. “We need them. They are taking the trials for us.”
“Good for fucking them!” Stanford snaps. “We’re Mates, so we know all about trials. We have them back at the Stronghold. It’s how you get onto the Teams.”
“Yeah, those aren’t like these,” Sister says. “Those are tests in a gym.”
“Then what are these?” Val asks.
“Booby traps,” Sister says. “Security measures put here a long time ago by someone that is pretty sick in the head.”
“Who?” Val asks.
“That’s a long story,” Sister says. “And not one I really plan on telling. Ever. There’s no need. Just know that the bastard got his in the end.”
The Code Monkeys all hiss and some even spit at Sister. Skye holds up a hand and they back off.
“Thank you for revealing who you are, Sister,” Skye says. “This is good news to us. We will finally have what the old world called closure. Today is truly the end of it all. The end of everything.”
“Yep. End of everything,” Sister says. “How many more trials are there?”
“More than enough for all of us to be tested,” Skye says.
“Great,” Sister says. “Just shit fucking great.”
***
Diaz shoves a stack of moldy boxes out of the way and is not surprised they move as one unit, rolling to the side on a hidden platform that swings out into the corridor.
“Rats,” Diaz says, pointing down at the litter of rodent droppings that sit next to a seam in the wall.
“I’ll be dipped in Z guts,” Cole says.
“You already are, TL,” Diaz laughs as he moves his hand up the seam. It takes him a few passes, but he finds what he is looking for. With a loud click, the wall pops out about two inches. “There we go.”
Diaz and Cole grab the wall with their gloves and pull it all the way out. It becomes a door that nearly blocks the entire corridor they have been following for nearly an hour.
The smell hits them fast and they both put a hand up to their noses.
“What the fuck is that?” Cole says.
The two men raise their weapons and take a few careful steps into the passage revealed by the hidden door. They only get a few feet before the passage takes a sharp turn to the right.
“Holy shit,” Diaz says. “They’ve been hacked to pieces.”
Cole takes a cautious step towards the pile and studies the miscellaneous body parts.
“These aren’t Zs,” he says. “The tissues are rotting, but not necrotic like the undead. These parts belong to people. People that were alive when they were chopped up.”
“TL? You noticing what I’m noticing?” Diaz asks. “There’s something missing here.”
Cole looks at the pile again and then nods.
“No heads,” he says.
“Yeah, no heads,” Diaz says. “Where the hell are the heads?”
“I’m guessing we need to follow the trail of blood,” Cole says, nodding at the wide, dark smear that leads down the passage and away from the grotesque pile.
The two Mates walk for a while before there is another turn in the passageway. Cole stops by the corner then ducks his head around quickly. He pulls back just as quickly and closes his eyes.
“Found them,” he says.
Cole moves around the corner with Diaz right behind him. In a row that stretches from wall to wall sit close to two dozen heads, their necks stuck to the concrete floor by the pools of blood that have leaked and congealed from them.
“Watch yourself,” Diaz says as Cole moves towards the heads. “Could be rigged.”
“Could be,” Cole says. “But I don’t think they would bother. No one was supposed to come this way.”
He gets close to the heads and kneels down. Very slowly, he reaches out and grabs one by the top of the skull. Despite his assumption, Cole lets out a deep breath when nothing happens after he picks the head up. He turns it this way then that.
“Code Monkeys?” Diaz asks.
“They have eyes,” Cole says.
“Oh, right.”
Cole grabs the head by the chin and pulls down, opening the jaw. He stares at what’s inside the mouth then sets the head down, stands, and looks right at Diaz.
“Cannies,” Cole says.
“What?” Diaz says.
“Cannies,” Cole says. “Their teeth are sharpened. These fuckers are canny heads.”
“Cannies? Why the hell would there be hacked up cannies in a secret passage leading from the AFB to the Cheyenne facility?” Diaz asks. “How’d they even get by the Code Monkeys to get down here?”
“I have a hunch,” Cole says. “Come on.”
The two men step over the rows of heads and keep going down the passageway. There is a distinct trail of blood that leads around each turn, smeared across the floor from the bodies being dragged along the concrete. Then the trail starts to thin out and the blood becomes more random, like splatters instead of a wide path.
“Yeah. This isn’t good,” Cole says, pointing at the splatters on the floor and then corresponding ones that cover the walls. “Look at the trajectory.”
“I am,” Diaz says. He takes off his pack and rummages through it. He pulls out a hand crank flashlight and yanks his NVGs from his face. “Going bright.”
Cole pulls off his NVGs as Diaz cranks the flashlight to life and points the beam at the blood on the walls. The spray fans out in one direction.
“They were running,” Diaz says.
“Yeah, they were,” Cole agrees.
“They were trying to escape,” Diaz says.
Cole only nods.
“There aren’t any cannies in the facility anymore, are there TL?” Diaz asks, pocketing the flashlight and putting his goggles back on.
“I don’t think so,” Cole says.
“That means the Code Monkeys set this all up,” Diaz says.
“Looks like it,” Cole nods and puts his NVGs back on as well.
“So what now?” Diaz asks.
“We’re the rats,” Cole says. “We find a way.”
“A way to what?” Diaz asks.
“A way to find our friends before whatever the Code Monkeys have planned happens.”
“They’re gonna kill them, aren’t they?” Diaz asks. He drops his pack and straps his M-4 tight to his back.
“Not if we get there first,” Cole says, doing the same with his pack and holstering his 9mm.
The two men nod then start sprinting as fast as they can down the passageway.
Chapter Ten- Houses of The Holy Shit
“Zora,” Skye says quietly. “It is your turn to be tested.”
A tall woman with long, black hair that hangs down to the middle of her back nods at Skye and moves away from the group. She takes a few steps and then stops, her head cocked and listening.
Instead of moving forward, she steps sideways and places her back to the wall. She takes a deep breath then begins to cartwheel herself down the tunnel, her back never leaving the surface of the wall. There is a tiny whoosh of air and Zora grunts, but keeps moving.
When she is close to thirty yards away, she stops cartwheeling, landing on her feet without even a stumble.
“Nora? Can you continue?” Skye asks.
“I can,” Nora replies.
She sticks her hand in her pants pocket and pulls out a handful of small objects. To the Mates wearing NVGs, the objects shine in their enhanced vision. To the Code Monkeys, they do nothing but change the density of the air around Zora’s hand.
The woman throws the objects out, back towards the group. They fly through the air, but quickly drop to the ground. More whooshes fill the air and the Mates take a couple steps back as they watch small projectiles shoot from one side of the tunnel to the ot
her.
“Is that all of them, Zora?” Skye asks, a tone in her voice that makes it plain that is not all of them.
“No,” Zora responds.
Another deep breath and she runs a couple of feet before putting her hands out in front of her. She throws herself forward and flips onto her hands, then back to her legs, onto her hands, back to her legs, her body tumbling end over end down the tunnel back towards the group.
Six whooshes. One cry.
The final whoosh drops Zora and the woman lies on the ground, her hand to her leg. Blood seeps out around a small shaft. The skin on her face is tight with pain as she tilts her head up to face Skye.
“That is all,” Zora gasps. “The way is clear.”
“You are sure?” Skye asks.
“I am sure,” Zora says. “This was my trial. I have cleared it as I was trained.”
“Good,” Skye says. “Is the dart poisoned as foretold?”
“It is,” Zora says, her voice shaky and weak. “I can feel it flowing inside me. It hurts like nothing I have ever felt. It is glorious.”
“Are you shitting me?” Stanford whispers. Val nudges him with her elbow and he shakes his head. “We have entered levels of cuckoo that I never thought existed. And you know how warped my brain is.”
“You do not understand,” Skye says as she kneels next to Zora. “Your kind can never understand.”
“Glad that I don’t,” Stanford says.
Skye ignores him and focuses on Zora.
“Would you like relief? Or will you endure the trial to the end?” Skye asks.
“I will endure,” Zora gasps.
Her body starts to shake and her eyes roll up into her head. Foam leaks from the corners of her mouth followed by a trickle of blood. The trickle becomes a stream and is joined by blood pouring from her nose, her ears, and even from her empty eye sockets. The woman’s limbs twist and contort, followed by her back as it bends, bends, bends, and finally snaps.
Zora lets out one last cry, a choked gurgle, then goes still.
“Her bravery will be logged,” Skye says. “She will be forever remembered in the cathedral.”