The After/Life (The After/Life Odyssey)

by Vardan Partamyan

  Chapter XVII

  Until Viler’s rule, the School armory was a mostly neglected storage area. Some items would occasionally be taken out and shown during the history classes (as yet another obvious, and in our reality – utterly unnecessary evidence that people knew how to kill each other). The door of the armory would usually be open - no one really gave a damn. After all, who was crazy enough to steal anything from there? What would he ever do with those bloody relics of an extinct civilization? Oh, how naïve we were…

  This age of innocence came to an abrupt end once Viler became the new Principal. All the Security Assistants were issued weapons. Their arsenal ranged from basic pistols and machine guns to some heavy duty firepower gear. Viler himself carried a limited edition .42 caliber handgun, which he lovingly called the Executioner. The Principal was obsessed with weaponry - Viler gave out all the weapons personally and was the only one who had access to the armory via a newly installed security terminal. If my theory was correct, this was about to change…

  Five minutes later, I was standing by the armory. There was no video surveillance in this area. Viler was paranoid about anyone seeing him enter the access code. He would come to regret this decision…

  As I was preparing to punch in the numbers, my hands were shaking badly. A familiar whisper at the back of my mind kept saying that there was no fucking way this was going to work out.

  ”Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” the words made me jump. I looked around and met the cold, predatory stare of a Security Assistant (I could no longer tell them apart, they all looked the same in their madness) standing right behind me, his weapon drawn, his face distorted in a rabid grin. Viler’s hound was feeling the sweet scent of blood. He was continuously wetting his lips.

  ”Principal’s orders, I am to…”

  ”Quit it, Teacher. I caught you. You cannot talk your way out of this one. Put your hands up. Do it. Now!”

  I was still standing with my back to the Assistant. I slowly took my hands away from the terminal keypad and started to raise them.

  ”Hurry the fuck up, Teacher,” I felt the cold metal of the gun on my spine: “I can finish you off right here. Do you understand that? Now, let me see your hands.”

  And then the tenseness that burdened me ever since I left my room that night was gone. There was a moment of absolute calm and clarity. I closed my eyes and slowly continued to raise my hands. When I spoke, I could hardly recognize my own voice (please allow me to introduce myself).

  ”You are making a mistake. As your Teacher, I am commanding you to leave immediately. This is your chance. Use it or die.”

  Behind me, the SA burst out laughing. This is when I struck out with my right elbow connecting squarely with the guard’s chin. There was the distinct sound of breaking teeth and a bewildered groan. I felt the gun slip off my back. Seizing the moment I turned around and hit him in the neck. The weapon fell out of his hand. He was staring at me with an almost comic disbelief, his face soaked in blood pouring abundantly from his still laughing mouth. A peculiar hissing sound was coming out of his damaged windpipe. I felt no pity - only cold hatred. I kicked him in the chest and sent him flying to ground. He was now making an attempt to defend himself kicking the air wildly and covering his ruined face with trembling hands - it was useless. I was hitting him indiscreetly over and over again.

  ”Please don’t,” his words came out distorted. A dark puddle of blood was starting to spread quickly around him.

  ”You had your chance,” I grabbed his head and smashed it against the metallic wall. There was a dull cracking sound and the body of the guard slipped lifelessly to the ground. I got up and caught my reflection in the metal surface of the wall. It was me no more and the dark whisper himself was staring back at me (hope you guessed my name)…

  I walked back to the terminal and punched in the words Raven. There was a quiet click and the armory door slid open. My theory of main code override was correct after all. I dragged the dead guard inside. I then used his clothes to clean off the blood from the floor and the wall the best I could. I was working quickly and methodically. The peculiar feeling of calm remained.

  I looked at my watch – five o’clock. Just two hours to go now. I grabbed a military backpack from the wall and set out collecting the equipment. The armory contained a very impressive array of deadly toys (surprising, considering the fact that we were inside a nuclear shelter beneath a fucking elementary school). The various types of weapons were lined carefully on the shelves on both sides of the room. I took a gun and plenty of ammunition. I also took a couple of grenades and an army issue bulletproof vest. I was preparing to leave when my attention was caught by a little cabinet at the far end of the room. It had a security lock but the code override continued to work miracles. As I opened the cabinet, I saw a stock of anti radiation medicine, a Geiger counter and one more thing. It looked a lot like a gun but there were weird cables coming out on both sides of the muzzle and connecting to what looked like a battery. Tiny letters En-We were inscribed on the side.

  ”You must be joking…,” in the world before the End, the existence of energy weapons was continuously and zealously denied by the military in spite of the clear (and extremely bloody) evidence that these weapons were used during several land assaults. The devastation they caused was colossal… I could surely find a use for it. I packed up my loot and quietly slipped out of the armory. My heart was beating very quickly now. By the time I got to my room, I was shaking uncontrollably.

  Throwing the backpack on the bed, I poured myself a drink. It did not help. I had just killed a man and no amount of alcohol was going to change that. I had made a choice and there was no turning back. I took out a gun, loaded it and sat down in my armchair facing my inner window. It was almost time…

  Chapter XVIII

  And as I set in the armchair and looked into the darkness of the elevator shaft from my window with the gun in my hand, a million images flashed before my eyes – it was my childhood – up there, in the world that I escaped from to save my life and was planning to escape to, if… It was my teenage years down here – in this bizarre metallic purgatory for the souls who refused to die. It was my young adulthood and that constant feeling that I couldn’t get it right (since I met her?). All these thoughts came at no particular order, storming my mind all together, making me feel like I was going crazy. Sometimes, Suzannah’s face would seem to surface from the darkness before me, sometimes it would be the face of Viler – a baleful smile on his face, sometimes it would be Teacher Kendall – troubled but full of compassion and understanding…

  My state of this nightmarish semi daze was broken by a voice from the intercom. It was seven o’clock – time for the morning greeting. Viler’s voice brought me back to reality – I was almost glad to hear it. He sounded very excited this morning:

  “Students, Teachers, the School wishes you a very good morning. Remember, our eyes cannot see the sun looking into our window, our eyes cannot see the clouds in the sky, but we can see the evil lurking among us - we shall fight it and destroy it. We have survived, you have survived and we have found a new home and our new home is our School and your master is your Principal. We have survived and we were chosen and it is our mission to carry on the light and life into a new beginning. It is our duty to obey the laws of the School and the Principal. We are the School and we are together and in unity is our strength and in obedience - our salvation for it is obedience that saved us when the bomb fell, it is obedience that keeps us alive now and it is obedience that will lead us into the future”.

  There was a pause and then Viler continued:

  “Students, Teachers, as you know, in the recent times our School has been besieged by conspirators and terrorist elements who were scheming against the harmony and security of our beloved home. I am pleased to announce that we have been able to discover and capture one of the main propagators of this destructive process. Thanks to the dedicated work of our Security Assistants, S
enior Teacher Kendall was brought to justice. Her guilt was proven beyond any reasonable doubt and she shall bear the consequences for her vicious actions. This morning, at nine o’clock, she shall be fired. The entire School is to be present by the incinerator chamber for this noble act of retribution. Absence shall not be tolerated.”

  I took a deep breath and got up. So far, everything was going according to the plan. Viler wasn’t suspecting anything. I started getting ready. Most of my stuff was already in the duffle bag. I added the deadly spoils of the last night’s exploits. I put on the bulletproof vest, stuffed the pockets with clips of ammunition and strapped the gun on my right leg. I stored the electric weapon in the bag as I hoped I wouldn’t need to use it if everything went according to plan (did it ever?). I tried not to think about what was going to happen in the next two hours as my entire strategy was built on a number of presumptions that may or may not be accurate.

  I looked at the watch – eight fifteen, just another fifteen minutes till the first act of my insane undertaking. Somehow, the time had slowed down and the seconds were painfully crawling along. I lit a cigar…never smoked one at this time… the taste was unusually bitter. So I stood by the window and smoked and watched the smoke go up the elevator shaft, going up and disappearing, going up… My mind’s eye was somewhere else though. My mind’s eye was closely following a little man, a quiet Teacher, a hidden monster who had volunteered to take up the job of Viler’s Chief Executioner. Here he was, putting on his robe - always wrinkled and untidy, here he was wiping his small round glasses, carefully brushing his thinning hair, then making a disgruntled sound and pulling on the Executioner’s hood. Just before going out, he would remember and smile. He would remember that this morning he was going to be an Important Person. This morning he would no longer be the one whom both the Students and Teachers despised and jeered. This morning he would be feared, he would be revered. For this morning he was the Chief Executioner. My mind’s eye followed him as he walked down the corridors. People he met would utter a brief greeting and then look away swiftly, oh how he enjoyed seeing fear in their eyes – be afraid, you bastards for I am the death incarnate and one day your name will be on my list. Chief Executioner was very particular about his job. Everything had to be intact, there was no place for a mistake – the Principal would never forgive him one. More importantly, he would never forgive himself if the execution was not carried out ideally…

  A crowd would already be in place when the Chief Executioner arrived at the Incinerator at eight twenty. On the execution day, all the classes and other activities would be suspended and people would try to arrive as early as possible. Partly, it was the warning of the Principal, partly a wish of getting the best view on the upcoming spectacle of death. Something had gone rotten in our little kingdom… The people would make way as the Chief Executioner made his entrance into the incinerator chamber to perform all the diagnostics… He was probably whistling a happy tune. He was not a very good whistler and it would come down to a disfigured hissing sound with spittle flying from his thin lips.

  A look at the watch – eight twenty nine, one minute to go - now was the time, no, now IS the time … I am ready…

  Chapter XIX

  I can hardly resist the temptation of going out into the corridor, out there to the incinerator chamber and seeing what will happen with my own eyes (twenty seconds to go). Maybe nothing will happen? Maybe we messed something up (fifteen seconds)? If this goes wrong, they are going to kill Teacher Kendall. She will burn and it is going to be my fault (ten seconds). I can’t get it right – it is as simple as that (five seconds)… There is silence - all I can hear is the rapid beating of my heart… And then there is a dull sound of a blast and the floor shakes under my feet. I feel a cruel grin spreading on my face. It worked. The bastard Chief Executioner got a taste of his own hell machine. One of the little adjustments Bars and I made at the control terminal was authorizing the release of fuel into the incinerator and engaging the mechanism of prophylactic auto combustion set for eight thirty in the morning. The amount of fuel released into the chamber was about fifty times the amount usually used during incineration. It was to and, if the sound was any indication, did result in a nice little explosion, ending the inglorious existence of the Chief Executioner as well as hopefully doing one other thing…

  There is the sound of the siren. It whines through all the intercoms intruding into your brain and paralyzing you. Somehow, I am taken back to my childhood and the day when the bomb was dropped (I’ve been around for a long, long year). The same siren sounded then, announcing the arrival of the Apocalypse. And once again, through the sound of the siren, I can almost hear Sympathy for the Devil again. Roles have changed - here and now I am (stole many a man's soul and fate) the devil. I am here to wreak havoc (it’s the nature of my game). I can hear voices in the corridor. It’s general alert. Viler’s hounds will soon be here. I can hear them, shouting out commands and recharging the weapons. There is a furious knocking on my door. It’s eight thirty five – we programmed the elevator to come down at eight forty (if it ever does come down). The bastards are here too early. I take out the gun and walk to the door.

  ”What is it?” I yell so that they can hear me through the deafening sound of the siren.

  ”Open the door, Teacher. We need to talk to you,” there is a burst of vicious laughter outside and that peculiar click of weapons being taken off the safety.

  ”Well, talk then, you fucking dogs, I don’t need to see your faces to hear you bark,” I don’t know how long I can hold them here. There is no sign of the elevator, only darkness outside my window.

  ”Open the fucking door, Teacher, Principal’s orders,” someone started banging on the door. It was code sealed and could not be opened from the outside. It could certainly be broken.

  I step back, pull up the gun, aim at the middle of the door and pull the trigger. There is the deafening sound of the shot and I can hear muffled whining and a string of obscenities (I’ve stolen many man’s soul and fate). Then there is silence again and even the siren takes the back seat to my raging heart beat. I know what is going to happen now and just as I throw myself down on the floor the shooting starts. The sound is earsplitting. The bullets are blowing apart everything. Splinters from my furniture are flying through the air. The table lamp explodes in a fountain of sparks. The stuffing of my mattress is bursting out as feathers from the pillow are making their slow journey to the ground. There is a sound of ricochet and I see a bullet go into the floor right next to me. Another ricochet and I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder as the bullet tears my flesh. It seems that this will never end - just then it does. I can hear them recharging. I aim my gun at the door.

  ”You really should have taken turns shooting,” I start firing and am satisfied to hear screams of pain outside. Then there is another sound, so familiar after all these years. The elevator – it’s coming down. I fire another shot, grab my things from the debris on the floor and run to the window... just as I am about to reach it, the firing from the outside starts again. I can feel the bullets flying around me. I am thrown down by a strong blow on the side. I look down and see a still smoking pellet sticking out of my bulletproof vest. It’s very hard to get up. I look at the door - there is almost no door left now and through the tears in the metal I can see their faces. They want blood, they have gone mad with craving for it - some of them are crying, some are laughing – Viler’s generation is living its nightmare. The sight of them makes me get up - from the window I can see the elevator passing by on the way down. I run with all my strength. Behind me, I can hear the door being kicked down and the guards storming inside the room. I reach the window, close my eyes and leap out…

  Chapter XX

  There is a second of a free fall (going down the rabbit hole, are we?). Shots being fired after me - I fully expect to feel one of their bullets hitting me but then there is an impact and I crash into a solid surface and I am on the roof of the elevator. A random wire st
icking out of the hauling cable almost pokes my eye out and leaves a deep cut on my forehead. Drops of blood start trickling down into my right eye (I literally see red now). I look up.

  Somewhere up there is my window. Somewhere up there are the faces of my pursuers. They look lost and confused and… scared. The first two I can certainly relate to - the third feeling is absent from my heart. I have spent twenty two years of my life being afraid – not any more…

  My journey down seems to take much longer than it should have - there is a profound sense of unreality. I get on my feet, holster my gun and with the light of my lighter find the emergency hatch in the roof. A moment later I am inside the elevator. Just then it comes to a halt. The doors slid open and I step out in the reactor chamber…

  I never expected to make it down here. The reactor was one of the few places firmly out of reach for all but a few select maintenance personnel (and the Principal, of course). Yesterday, as me and Bars looked through various security protocols, we ran into a curious note titled E.S.E.P. or Emergency Situation Evacuation Protocol. This document (which amazingly was in the public domain) gave a detailed overview on who was to go where in case of a general alert. The point that very much interested me stated:

  “In case of emergency, the Principal is to use the elevator in his private chambers to get to the reactor facility to ensure the safety of the core. From there, he can use the remote access terminals to monitor the situation and carry out the coordination of emergency liquidation process*.”