by R. J. Wolf
Steve smiled and closed the car door. Kneeling at the back of the rusty old station wagon he stared down the street. The man was still standing in front of the fence inspecting the hole that Mit and Mikey had dug.
Steve quickly tip toed behind a row of bushes and ducked down. He peeked through the spikey leaves, waiting for his chance. The man looked back and forth across the building then squatted down and crawled under the hole.
Steve knew it was now or never. Jumping to his feet, he took off in a full sprint. He crossed the street and was at the front of the man’s SUV in a matter of minutes.
Breathing heavily, he leaned on the hood of the truck and tried to catch his breath. As he looked around he noticed the driver’s door was still open. With a sigh, he pulled himself upright and walked around to the side of the Suburban.
He leaned into the truck and looked around. On the front seat there was a bright yellow two way radio and a dull black pistol. He quickly glanced over his shoulder then grabbed the gun and stuffed it into his pants.
The center console was fitted with a computer like you’d see in a policeman’s car. As he reached inside and tapped the keyboard he heard the fence jingle behind him.
Steve whipped around and saw a pair of shoes squeezing back through the hole near the fence. Stealthily, he crept next to the wall of the building and blended into the shadows.
The man emerged from the hole and stood up. His back was to Steve, but he was so close Steve could reach out and tap his arm. The man brushed the dirt from his pants and started to fumble with his utility belt.
“Where’d that radio go?” He mumbled to himself as he started towards the truck.
Half panicking, Steve emerged from the shadows and followed close behind him. Reaching into his pants he slowly pulled out the cold black pistol. His footsteps fell silently on the grass as he moved with the stealth of a hunting lion.
As the man neared the truck, Steve raised the gun and pointed it at the back of his head. His hands shook feverishly, the gun rattling in his palm. His dad had taken him shooting before, but this was different. This wasn’t some paper target, but a living, breathing human being.
Steve inhaled slowly, his finger resting on the trigger. There was a slight steady pull of tension on his fingertip, the balance of life weighed with the slightest squeeze.
He took a step closer and then another. His chest rose and fell like a trampoline. Sweat trickled down his forehead and dropped to the ground.
Steve’s eyes were locked on the man in front of him. The sight of the gun rested just above the rim of his baseball cap. Each step he took moved him closer and closer, his hand gripping the cold handle tightly.
He took a deep breath and as he did his foot came crashing down on a dried leaf. The crunching was thunderous, echoing into the night air like fireworks.
Steve froze as the man in front of him stopped walking. He could feel his throat tighten as his heart lunged into his neck. He didn’t dare breath, trying to hold the gun steady, his arm a vibrating mess of useless muscle.
The man slowly turned, coming face to face with Steve. As they looked each other in the eye, Steve couldn’t help but notice how young the man appeared up close. He must’ve been in his early twenties. His beard and mustache hadn’t really grown in yet, just a bit of unorganized stubble.
Steve knew what he needed to do. He knew that if given the chance the man was going to call for help and then they’d all be dead. But for some reason he couldn’t move, he couldn’t bring himself to act.
Like a wild animal, the man could sense Steve’s hesitation. Without warning he dove forward, his hand wrapping around the gun. Steve jerked backwards, but not in time. They both toppled to the ground and the gun flew from his hand into the grass.
The man landed on top of Steve and began to rain down blows before Steve could gather himself. His fists found their mark over and over as he clobbered his face like a punching bag.
Steve bucked and flung the smaller man off of him. He landed in the grass on his knees and slid forward. Steve jumped back to his feet and dove for the gun.
As he closed his hand around it the man was back on him pulling at his leg. Steve rolled over and with his free leg stomped the man in the face and sent him reeling backwards.
Blood peppered the lawn and the man blurted out random obscenities. As Steve clamored to his feet, the man staggered towards the truck holding his nose. He fell into it and reached for the dash.
Inside of the building Mit was furiously opening each door. He and Mikey had split up so they could check as many of the cells as possible.
“Anthony! Anthony!” He yelled no longer trying to conceal their presence.
Mikey appeared around the corner and doubled over gasping for air. “This is stupid. There’s…there’s too many doors. I don’t think he’s here. No one’s here.”
Mit rolled his eyes and leaned his hand against the wall. He took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“So what do we do now?” Mit asked in frustration.
“I don’t know, but this isn’t working. This place is too big. There’s no way we can search every door. Besides, we have to figure out how to get out of here.”
Mit nodded. “Okay fine. Let’s check the other doors out there in the hallway.”
Together they made their way back to the main door. Somehow the long hallways had grown dimmer since they’d been there. Now shadows lurked around every corner, whispers echoed down the long halls.
Looking over his shoulder Mit paused. He squenched his face and took a deep breath. “Guess you don’t have a grenade or anything in your pocket.” He laughed.
“Did you even try opening the stupid door.” Mikey shook his head and grabbed the handle.
As he slowly turned it he could hear the magnets begin to click and the door unlock. He pulled it open and smirked back at Mit.
“Yeah, we’re stranded.”
They both stepped back into the hallway. The faint glow of the blue light could still be seen up ahead.
“We might as well check the last door.” Mikey said as he moved past Mit and grabbed the handle.
The door creaked open slowly as a dim amber light spilled into the hall. Cautiously, they both stepped in and gawked from side to side in amazement.
The room was some type of lab. It reminded Mit of being in Chemistry class. Running down the middle of the room was a string of cabinets fitted with sinks and gas burners. The walls were affixed with giant glass tanks filled with a translucent liquid. They ran the length of the room and stretched from the floor to the ceiling.
Mit slowly ventured further into the room and stopped in front of one of the tanks. The cloudy liquid bubbled and slowly swished about. He reached forward and tapped on the glass.
“Mikey. I think something’s in there.”
Mikey stopped next to him and gazed into the tank. The liquid was a thick, milky looking substance. It seemed to swirl around and slosh gently like something was moving just out of sight.
“That’s weird.” Mikey mumbled.
He pressed his face on the glass, cupping his hands on either side. There was a sudden thud and something emerged from the back.
Mikey yelled and jumped backwards. Ebbing back and forth against the glass was a strange figure. It seemed human in its basic qualities, but was very different.
The skin was dark and scaly. Its head was covered in a bright red hair and the eyes were narrow ovals. Mikey slowly walked back towards the tank.
“You think it’s dead?” He whispered.
“Gotta be.” Mit responded. “What is it?”
Mikey stared harder as the body floated and turned. The hands had a reptilian look to them and the skin seemed to have spikes more than scales. “It’s whatever Anthony is.” Mikey mumbled.
“There’s more of them!” Mit yelled as he walked past the other tanks.
Each one was filled with the same liquid and somewhere inside was a dead body. They di
dn’t all look the same. Some were completely human, others were so mutated that they no longer resembled humans at all.
“This is crazy.” Mikey said.
By their count there were more than a dozen bodies floating around in the tanks. It was like some eerie science experiment out of a demented nightmare.
Tubes ran from the tops of the tank to the ceiling and were bungeed together in thick bands. Mikey followed them with his eyes as they dangled from the rafters and disappeared into a wall.
“A computer.” Mikey yelled as he darted off into the corner. “What’s that password Nickie gave us?”
Mit laughed. “Chubby thirty-thirty and sasquatch.”
Mikey whipped around and punched in the username and password. The computer started to flash and then a welcome screen popped up.
“Well, get over here and do something with this. You’re the computer nerd.” Mikey yelled back.
“Fine, move over.” Mit said as he slid next to the keyboard. “Well here’s problem one. This is a backup lab. So I’m pretty sure Anthony is not gonna be here.”
“What!” Mikey yelled and then threw his hand over his mouth.
Suddenly, the trilling blare of sirens rang loudly in the dark. Clanking and the grinding of metal gears echoed distantly. Heavy mesh cages started to roll down from the ceiling covering the door and glass tanks.
“Mit we gotta go now!” Mikey screamed over the loud ringing.
“Get over here and write this down.” Mit yelled back.
“Are you nuts? You’re gonna get us killed.”
“They are moving Anthony…soon. Come write this down.”
Mikey ran to the computer and stared at the screen. “Oh my god, all of that? Just take the damn thing.” He griped.
Mikey grabbed the tower and yanked it, ripping cords out of the wall. Clenching it to his chest like a baby he took off for the door. Mit scratched his head and followed after him.
They burst through the door into the hallway and took off for the elevator. Mit ran ahead and jabbed the code into the keypad as Mikey lumbered behind with the computer.
“Hurry up and get in here!” Mit screamed.
“I’m trying…this thing is heavy.” Mikey moaned as he clamored into the elevator.
Mit hit the button for the top floor and the doors slowly closed. The heavy metal blocked out the blaring sirens, but emergency lights flashed on and off inside the cart.
“You think somebody’s here?” Mikey asked as he sat the computer onto the floor.
“Don’t know why else all this crap would be going off.” Mit smirked.
Little did they know, outside Steve had been in a life or death battle with one of the security guards. Before Steve could subdue him he’d managed to press the panic button inside of his Suburban. In a matter of minutes the parking lot was heavily armed guards dressed from head to toe in robotic looking suits.
Steve made it back to Mr. Clark’s station wagon just as they were pulling up. Sweating, out of breath and covered in dried blood he dove into the car and slammed the door.
“Stephen! What…what happened?” Mr. Clark asked in total shock.
“There, there was a guard.” Steve huffed. “Looks like he called for the cavalry.”
“This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.” Mr. Clark grabbed the binoculars and stared down the street.
Several guards swarmed into the building, leaving a small group outside in the parking lot. They all donned similar looking uniforms and futuristic equipment. Even under the faint moonlight the metallic glow of their suits could be seen.
“They look like robots.” Mr. Clark whispered. “How on earth are we gonna get them out of there?”
Steve grinned and held up a small green pineapple shaped object with a black handle and silver clasps.
“You stole a grenade?” Mr. Clark asked in shock.
“Yep, right out of that idiots truck. Get me around back.” Steve smiled.
Mr. Clark eyed him for a moment and then cranked up the car.
With a ding, the elevator stopped and the doors flung open. The loud concussion of ringing flooded the cabin like a giant ocean wave. Mit cautiously edged his head out of the door, scanning the empty halls, half expecting to be tazed.
Looking back at Mikey he whispered. “Looks safe. You go first.”
Mikey rolled his eyes and heaved the computer tower onto his shoulders. Grunting he stepped into the hallway and turned towards the front doors.
“Let’s go!” He yelled back to Mit.
Suddenly, there was a loud crack and the elevator doors snapped closed. At the same time the front doors swung open and men flooded into the lobby.
In a panic Mikey turned back to the elevator. He dropped the tower and tried prying the doors open. He could hear the cart descending rapidly with Mit stuck inside.
“Mit! Mit!” He screamed.
“Don’t move!” An electronic voice called from behind him.
As he slowly turned towards the voice, an enormous explosion rocked the building, flinging him into the wall. He landed hard onto the ground banging his head into the slate floor.
Smoke filled the air and broken glass peppered the floor like spikes. Bodies of the heavily armored men were thrown across the floor like ragdolls.
Mikey rolled over onto his knees as he grimaced in pain.
“Get up!. Mikey we’ve gotta go.” Steve’s voice called through the thick cloud of smoke. “Where’s Mit?”
Mikey tried to form words, but it all came out garbled. He pointed at the elevator as he choked on the rancid air. Steve ran to the wall and jabbed at the buttons, but nothing happened.
One of the men that had been knocked down by the blast grumbled and started to stir. He pushed a filing cabinet off of his legs and stumbled into the wall.
“We’ve gotta go.” Steve said as he grabbed Mikey’s arm.
Mikey lunged at the tower as Steve pulled him up from the ground. Hugging it in his arms he managed to blurt out his first full sentence. “We can’t leave Mit!” He screamed, fighting against Steve to get to the elevator.
“We’ll have to figure something out, but if we don’t get out of here now, we’re all gonna die.”
Steve grabbed the computer in one hand and Mikey’s arm in the other. He tugged him across the broken glass and shards of twisted metal out into the parking lot.
Outside Mr. Clark laid on the horn, his arm flailing out of the window waving them on. Steve looked back just as three of the men emerged from the crumpled doorway. In their hands they gripped something that looked like a hand held missile launcher. One of the men pointed at them and took aim.
Steve pushed Mikey to the ground just as a ball of light whizzed by their head. It streaked inches above them leaving a golden trail on the wind. With a bang it smashed into a dumpster across the street.
Spitting out grass, Mikey looked up, expecting the dumpster to have been obliterated. Instead it was untouched; the blast hadn’t even moved it an inch. Mikey shook his head and scampered to his feet. Steve was still on the ground stretched out on top of the computer tower. Mikey grabbed his arm and together they made for the car.
With a loud crack, thunder shook the air and rain started to fall from the sky in buckets. Steve slid and slipped as he trampled across the wet grass. The downpour made it impossible to see where they were going.
Slugging across the lawn, they blindly made their way to the car. Mr. Clark was still frantically screaming and banging on the horn. Steve slung the door open and tossed the computer into the back.
Suddenly a loud buzzing noise erupted ahead of them. The shrieking sound of twisting metal echoed into the night. Behind the car the dumpster started to rattle and then violently began to melt into nothing. The metal was folding on top of itself crinkling like a wad of paper. In seconds it vanished without leaving a trace.
Steve stood at the back of the car with his mouth gaping open. Mr. Clark screamed as another sphere of light hit the ground
behind them and the dirt started to implode on itself. Steve could feel a slight tug at his leg that grew stronger. He grabbed onto the door handle as he was pulled off of his feet. Mikey dove into the car from the other side.
“Hold on Steve.” Mr. Clark yelled as he mashed his foot on the gas.
Steve clung to the door handle and Mikey grabbed his arm just as the car pulled off. The ground where the car was parked crumpled and faded away, like it was being sucked into a black hole. Mr. Clark drove up the road and then stopped.
“Where’s Mitchell?” Mr. Clark yelled as Steve climbed the rest of the way into the car.
“We lost him.” Mikey said. “We were in the lobby and he got stuck in the elevator. It went back down to the lab.”
Mr. Clark’s face cried out in disbelief. He glanced back towards the building. Chunks of the ground were still crumbling and falling into a bottomless blackness. Several of the guards were running towards them firing indiscriminately.
“Mr. Clark, we have to go back. We have to get him.” Mikey demanded.
It was at that moment Steve started to realize how ridiculous their plan was to begin with. They didn’t have any training or any weapons. The best information they could get came from a teenage girl with a crush.
Yet somehow here they were. Three teenagers and an old man standing against a force they couldn’t even comprehend. It was doomed from the start.
“We have to leave him.” Steve mumbled at first.
Mr. Clark looked back in unison with Mikey. Their faces riddled in confusion.
“We have to leave him.” Steve said again, more strongly this time.
“You…you can’t mean that. It’s Mit, we’re talking about Mit.” Mikey pleaded.
“I’m sorry Mikey, it’s him or it’s all of us. And then what was all this for?”
The ground behind the car shook. The black hole was slowly moving towards them, eating away the ground like a plow. Mr. Clark looked up at the horde of men closing in on them. Several balls of light sailed into the distance.
“He’s right. We have to go. Mitchell…Mitchell knew this could happen. We all did.” Mr. Clark spoke with tears in his eyes.
Mikey couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He reached for the handle and yanked the door open. Steve lunged and grabbed him before he could get out.