by Kyle West
They were sizing us up, too. I’m sure they thought I wasn’t tough, based off my age, but I had learned a lot in the past three weeks. I’d grown tougher in the past three weeks than in the past three years.
“How long have you guys been here?” Samuel asked.
“Two weeks,” Kris said, shaking a blonde bang out of her eye. “And we’ve been trying to figure out how to get out ever since. The land will look empty occasionally. But every time we try to leave, they come out, sending us back here.”
“You guys Empire?” Samuel asked.
The three looked at each other for a moment.
“Yeah, we are,” Harland said. “No point in trying to hide it.”
“Bunker crawlers, are you?”
“What does it matter?” Harland asked. “I can see you guys are the same. No other reason for you to be here. I don’t know if you are working for the United States, as you claim, but whatever we find in the Bunker is ours.”
Anna, Lisa, and Makara stepped forward, reaching for their weapons. The three Novans backed off, reaching for theirs.
“Stop!” I said. “You all are going to kill each other — over what? No one’s making it to the Bunker anyway unless we can get out of this.” I looked from our group to the other. “Maybe we can help each other out.”
“Well,” Harland said, “the Bunker isn’t far. Just downstairs, in fact. You guys were right on the money as far as making it.”
“Wait,” Samuel said. “What do you mean, right downstairs?”
Once again, the Novans looked at each other, confused. An uncomfortable silence hung over the two groups.
“Yes,” Harland said. “There is a door, in the basement. Only we can’t figure out how to get it open.”
“A door?” I asked. “What kind of door? I might be able to help.”
“I doubt it. It’s the entrance to Bunker 40. I’m sure you guys know about it, if you’re already here. One thing is for sure: whatever’s in there doesn’t want anyone else coming in.”
“There’s probably no one inside,” I said. “Might just be locked from the inside. If there is, no one would be there to open it.”
Harland shot me an annoyed look before turning back to Samuel. “If we could somehow bust that thing open, we might have a shot of getting out of here. There could be an exit somewhere outside where the monsters aren’t. Meanwhile, we could just split whatever we could carry. Only we’ve been trying to open that door ever since we got here. It’s sealed tight.”
“No harm in our taking a look,” Samuel said.
“No chance of blowing that thing off,” I said. “It was designed to withstand a hydrogen bomb.”
I noticed Drake was staring at me. If he was trying to get to me, it wasn’t working. I stared back, letting him know he wouldn’t intimidate me.
“Alex,” Samuel said. “You’re from 108. Any ideas on how to get into this one?”
I shook my head. “Unless they’re opened from the inside, there is no way to get in.”
“So we’re really stuck here,” Makara said. “Still hundreds of miles left to go.”
Makara realized her slip, but showed nothing on her face to reveal it. The Novans knew we weren’t here for Bunker 40, but something else.
“Where are you headed?” Harland asked casually.
“That’s classified,” Samuel said. “Besides, even if there were a way out through this Bunker, we’d still need to get to the Recon. There would be no way to cross the distance we need without one.”
“Recon, huh?” Harland said. “You guys’ve got lots of fancy toys. Maybe you really are government.”
I gave the man a hard stare. “As such, whatever’s in that Bunker belongs to us.”
Harland smiled. “We’re working together. Why not reap the spoils together?”
I turned from Harland to Samuel. “What do you propose? The Recon is in the garage, surrounded by hundreds of monsters. There’s no busting out unless they leave.”
“If they don’t get in first,” Kris said.
“All the ways out are shut off,” Harland said. “You guys were lucky to try the garage first. That was the only way we left open.”
“We could at least try to get into the Bunker,” Anna said. “See what our options there are.”
“Regardless,” Makara said, “we’re not getting out of here unless all those things outside die. There’s eight of us, and thousands of them. This might sound crazy, but I think we can do it.”
“How?” both Harland and Kris asked at the same time.
“We fight,” Makara said, simply. “But we’re going to need more than what we have here.”
“Bunkers are loaded with weapons and supplies,” I said. “If we could get in…”
Harland and Kris looked at each other. Drake grunted, squinting an eye. I guess that was his way of agreeing.
“Let’s try to figure this out,” Harland said. “Maybe you will have more luck than us. Follow me.”
Chapter 15
Harland led us downstairs. The only sound in the building’s cold halls was footsteps echoing off metal. I could hear the muffled wails and screams of the monsters outside. I tried not to think what would happen if those thousands of creatures somehow found their way in.
We reached the ground floor we had come in. Still, Harland kept going down to the building’s basement. The air grew wet and dank. Once we reached the bottom, we followed Harland down a dark hallway, my footsteps splashing through puddles. This would be the perfect time for them to ambush us, but our hands were not far from our weapons of choice.
“Keep moving,” Drake said, in a deep, gravelly voice.
The hallway opened into a large room. We shined our flashlights around it. The room was empty and square-shaped, the walls of gray brick. The only feature of any importance was a large, circular vault door, made of thick metal, set into the brick wall. The number 40 was impressed in its center. The door was smooth. There was no mark or scratch on it, nor any handle. The crack between door and wall was the width of a human hair, so exactly measured that the door could open and close, but only from the other side. That door was never meant to be opened from our side.
“This is it,” Harland said. “Bunker 40.”
Samuel stepped forward and placed his hand on the smooth metal. He did not speak.
“Any ideas on how to open this thing?” Makara asked.
I walked up to the door, joining Samuel. There was no secret way to open the door — at least, not that I knew of. Like Samuel, I ran my hand across the cold metal, as if that might give me some clue in opening it. Everyone looked at me as if I were performing voodoo magic on it.
“These things were designed to never be opened,” I said. “Except from the inside.”
My statement was met with silence. I looked around the door, and noticed a camera sitting above the bunker door. Its lens gazed down at me.
I pointed to it. “That thing still work?”
Harland shrugged. “I’d be surprised if it did. We’ve tried talking into it, but nothing happened.”
I looked into the camera. Bunker 108 had a similar camera, though it was not as conspicuous as this one. Ours had been built into the rock, and could not be found by the casual observer. The camera was how the doorman knew whom to let in, and out.
If there were a doorman for Bunker 40, I had to try speaking to him.
“Bunker 40,” I said to the camera, “this is Alex Keener, son of Dr. Steven Keener, deceased, of Bunker 108 in the Mojave Sector. If anyone is in there, we are on a mission from the United States government, sanctioned by Chief Security Officer Chan, now deceased.” I paused, and waited for a response, if any. When nothing happened, I continued. “We are on a mission to find Bunker One,” I went on. “We are surrounded by monsters on all sides, and we could use your help. If anyone is in there, please open the door. We are not hostile. We only need your help.”
I didn’t know what else to say. I knew Samuel didn’t want
me to give away the mission, but if this was our only shot of getting inside the Bunker, I had to say the money words that would get the door to open.
“This isn’t working,” Makara said. “No one’s in there.”
“We are looking for the Black Files,” I said. “We want to stop the xenovirus.”
“Alex,” Samuel said sternly. “Enough.”
I had given away our mission, and the Bunker door still wasn’t opening. I felt like a complete fool.
“Well,” Harland said, “looks as if you won’t be getting those Black Files. Whatever they are.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “We’re trapped in here. Like I said, unless someone opens that door, we’re stuck here.”
At that moment, a loud thump sounded from the door, causing me to jump back. A thunderous echo reverberated throughout the room. Anna crouched beside me, drawing her katana. The echo faded, and the door was still.
“It’s unlocking,” Kris whispered.
From the other side of the Bunker door, I could hear a low screech as the wheel on the other side turned. The door was opening, and as it did so, cold sweat bathed my skin. Now that it was opening, I somehow didn’t want it to.
“Be ready for anything,” Samuel said.
The wheel stopped turning, and the room went quiet. All I could hear were the breaths of the eight people standing before the Bunker door, weapons ready. The circular vault door cracked open with a groan, revealing a sliver of darkness within. A wave of fetid, stinking air issued from the gap, like the opening of a fresh crypt.
That’s when the Howlers came out.
* * *
Stumbling from the darkness came two human forms. One was male, and one was female, their forms rotted and coated with slime. Their clothes were in tatters, revealing their pale nakedness. They screeched as they shot forward, reaching for me with gnarled, clawed hands.
I raised my Beretta at the male, right in his face as his open mouth went for my neck. I fired. A hole opened through his forehead, and his body fell backward as brain matter spewed from the opposite side of his skull, plastering the Bunker door. He crumpled to the ground in a heap.
The woman went after Anna, who sidestepped her deftly. Anna slashed the Howler woman in the back with her curved blade. The Howler woman wailed in pain, falling to the ground. With her boot, Anna stomped on the Howler woman’s back, pinning her to the ground. I could hear the woman’s skull crack as her face planted on the floor. Anna stabbed downward, right through the back of the woman’s head below the skull.
More Howlers poured from the open door, about a half dozen. Shots were fired, and one of them was felled. But two, one a man and another a child, snuck by and tackled Kris. She screamed as they buried their faces in her neck, ripping still-living flesh from it in quivering gobbets. Blood spewed into the air as her screams became bloody gurgles.
Yelling, Harland pulled one of the monsters off Kris as Anna came forward to sever the adult male’s head from its body with a clean, expert swipe. Lisa handled the child Howler with a look of revulsion on her face, stabbing it in the back of the neck with her combat knife.
In front of me Drake dealt with two Howlers. He pulled a javelin from his quiver and launched it. The javelin speared the head of the Howler, going clear through to the second, skewering them both.
I faced another Howler, a fat male with blackened veins on his pink and cadaverous face. His wide-open white eyes bored into mine as he gave a baleful roar. His hands grabbed my shoulders, causing me to drop my gun. I shook him off, reaching for my knife. I gave a few swipes, hitting only air. The fat Howler leaned forward, backing me into the wall. Desperately I slashed again, spilling his guts. The Howler fell to his knees. I kicked him with my boot, sending him backward to the floor. Samuel, after dispatching the last Howler still standing with a point-blank shot from his handgun, gave another shot to the sprawling fat Howler.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the downed Howlers were bloating. They would explode, coating everything in this room with purple slime infected with the human strain of the xenovirus.
“Run!” I yelled.
Kris convulsed on the floor as we all ran for the hallway to take shelter from the explosions. Drake was the last one out of the blast zone. As soon as he rounded the bend, two gushy plops sounded from the room, followed by several more. Walls of purple slime shot past, splattering against the brick and filling the room with a horrible reek that made me want to throw up.
We waited. When we were sure the bodies were done rupturing, we went back to survey the damage. Mangled, torn bodies littered the room, along with pieces of flesh, bone, and organ that had been propelled by the explosions. The stench was unbearable, one of raw sewage and organic rot.
“Kris…” Harland said.
Harland ran from us. We followed him back to the entrance to the bunker, ready for more of those things to come out. For now, that black entrance was quiet as the grave. Kris was still convulsing, blood coursing from the bite wounds on her neck.
Samuel looked grim. “There is nothing we can do for her.”
Harland was quiet, his eyes burning and unaccepting of the facts.
“She’s infected with the xenovirus,” I said. “She will turn into one of them.”
“Look,” Makara said, walking up with her handgun. “Let me take care of it. Before more of those things come out.”
Harland’s eyes narrowed at her with hatred. “Stay away from her.”
He turned to me.
“You. This is your fault. If you hadn’t opened that door…”
“Back off, Harland,” Makara said. “You don’t want me to get angry with you.”
Drake pulled one of the javelins from his back, arching his arm back.
“Stop!” Samuel yelled. Everyone turned to him. “Kris is gone. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. How long have you been in the Great Blight? Surely you would know about the new strain of the xenovirus that targets humans. And from what you saw back there, I’m sure you know how dangerous it is.”
Harland said nothing, his eyes dark and vengeful. Anna stepped forward.
“Leave this to the pros,” she said.
With that, she arced her blade down in a blur. Kris’s head was promptly sliced off.
Harland roared, turning to Anna. Drake ran forward, grabbing Harland’s arms with his meaty hands.
“Boss,” he said in his deep bass voice, “calm down.”
Harland was livid. It looked as if he wanted nothing more than to murder Anna.
“I did what I had to,” Anna said. “She could have come back any minute as one of them.”
“Won’t she explode?” Makara asked.
I shook my head. “Seems they have to come back to life first. It’s when they get the white eyes that you’ve got to be careful.”
“How do you know that?” Samuel asked, eyes hard.
“Because my friend died before she turned. She…” It was hard to make myself go on. I tried not to think about Khloe, but it was hard. “One of those things bit her back in 108. She died, but I buried her before she turned.”
I left the rest unsaid. I didn’t want to bring that nightmare up again. I didn’t want to think of her buried in the harsh red sand outside Bunker 108 and moving underneath. I liked to think that she rested in peace, and was not one of those monsters.
“Well, I’ll trust you on that one,” Samuel said. “We’ll keep an eye on this body, and make sure nothing happens.” He eyed everyone, including Harland and Drake. “I need you two to help. I don’t know how many of these things are in here, but I need fighters. Are you two good to do that?”
“You’re going in there?” Harland asked. “After all of that?”
Samuel got in his face. “Don’t push me, Imperial. I will do whatever it takes to get my team and myself out of here alive. If you two want to be a part of that, I suggest you help out. You can grieve for your dead later, but everyone will be dead unless we can find an esc
ape through here.”
Drake scowled, but looked to Harland for direction. Harland did not say anything for a long moment. He nodded grimly.
“Lead on.”
Samuel’s eyes narrowed. “We can’t let anything slow us down. They might break in upstairs for all we know.”
I did not want to question Samuel. I really didn’t. I couldn’t contradict him in front of these two. But if what happened at Bunker 108 was any indication, we had no shot at clearing this place out and finding what we needed.
“After you guys,” Harland said. “Drake and I will bring up the rear.”
“That’s fine,” Samuel said. “Just do your job.”
In a swift movement, Drake retrieved his javelin. The two bodies it had pierced crumpled further to the floor.
Harland gave a sneer of a smile, but Samuel ignored it, pressing himself into the darkness of the bunker.
We all followed.
Chapter 16
My stomach twisted as we entered the dark Bunker. With the smell of rot intermixed with the sting of metal, it was hard not to think of that horrible night at 108 that had changed my life forever. The atrium looked nearly the same as the one in my old home. There was a half-circular desk close by the right wall. That’s where Deborah Greene would have sat, back in 108. Deborah was dead, along with everyone else in Bunker 108, my father and best friend included. I half-expected ghosts to float down the halls. I had to do my best to keep it together.
There was a thick metal door behind the desk. I knew what lay beyond it.
“Might not have to go too far after all,” I said. “That door leads to the armory.”
“Nice work,” Samuel said.
Makara hopped over the desk, and gave the door a try. The latch wouldn’t budge.
“Figures,” she said.
Harland had wandered from the group, and was shining his light on a directory on the wall.
“This might help,” he said. “If anyone cares to look.”