Solace Within

by Gavin Zanker

  Aiden sighed and threw the shotgun to the floor with a clatter. ‘Blanc. I haven’t seen you since, when was it? Oh that’s right, back in the city when you beat me senseless and shot my dog. How have you been?’

  ‘Pretty lousy actually.’ Blanc stepped into the control room, still pointing the pistol at Aiden. ‘Someone stole something very important of mine.’

  ‘Are you sure it belonged to you in the first place?’

  ‘I suppose it’s all irrelevant now since I found it again,’ Blanc said, smiling without humour. ‘Looks like we’re all alone together,’ she said, glancing back down the corridor.

  Aiden tensed, reaching for the pistol under his jacket as she looked away.

  ‘I wouldn’t,’ Blanc said catching the movement and taking another step closer. ‘Drop that too and kick it over here, or I’ll put a bullet in your head before you can even blink.’

  Aiden knew she wasn’t bluffing so he did as she ordered, sliding his pistol across the floor towards her. She picked it up and slipped it into the back of her belt.

  Blanc cocked her head slightly. ‘Speaking of bullets to the head, I think I still owe you for this. I’m not sure you’ve seen your handiwork yet.’ She unwound the bandage on her head to reveal a jagged trail of scar tissue that ran from her forehead, cutting a path across her temple, and ending above her ear.

  ‘I wondered why you still wore that bandage,’ Aiden said. ‘With a scar that ugly it’s no wonder you want to keep your face covered up. Occupational hazard of being a psychopath, I suppose.’

  Blanc’s eyes blazed as she locked her stare onto Aiden, and he thought she would pull the trigger right then. The look passed though, and an exaggerated grin formed on her face.

  She lowered her aim and fired.

  Aiden cried out as the bullet sliced through his calf. He stumbled as his leg gave out, catching his weight on a nearby console.

  ‘Oh I have so much planned for you,’ Blanc said, ‘but I have more important things to do than play stupid games at the moment.

  ‘Like what?’ Aiden asked, wincing as he clutched his searing leg. ‘Holding the world to ransom?’

  Blanc threw her head back and laughed. ‘Ransom? You have it all wrong, Aiden. I’m here to save the world, not perpetuate it.’

  Aiden frowned, realising her true intention was never to rule, but to destroy. ‘You mean you’re going to set it off? But why? What about everyone else? You’re going to wipe them all out.’

  ‘You ask me why?’ Blanc said. ‘I ask you why not? People are parasites, and they’d be better off dead. The world is crawling with people who would kill you for a mouthful of bread. People pretending to be your friend while they work to destroy your entire life.’ Blanc paused and stared pointedly at Aiden. ‘People who would kill your loved ones just to get themselves off for ten minutes.’

  ‘You’re talking about your friend Trent,’ Aiden said, spitting the name.

  ‘Oh he wasn’t my friend, though we did have some informative chats before you took him out. He had some interesting tales to tell. It must have hurt to know that scumbag had his way with your wife.’

  ‘What’s your point, Blanc?’ Aiden growled.

  ‘I studied history before the Event. Didn’t know that did you? I learned all about the horrible things people did to each other through the ages. People always act out of self interest and nobody cares about anyone or anything except themselves. Wars, plagues, famine, politics: through it all, the one constant is that people will always stand on each other’s heads to survive. I mean, just look at the Ravagers. They would murder and rape their way across the world given the chance. You have no idea what people are truly capable of when given an ounce of power.’

  ‘I think I’m getting a picture of that now.’

  Blanc pulled something out of her pocket and held it up. It was the decoder, its metal surface glinting in the light. ‘Shall we see what the old world can do for us?’ she said, her eyes shining. ‘There’s no redemption left for people. I think it’s about time to change things. We can watch this cesspool of a world burn together, what do you say?’

  ‘You do realise what Project Solace is, don’t you?’ Aiden said. ‘The bombs will rip the continent apart killing everyone, including you.’ He shifted his position, trying to keep weight off his injured leg. As he did, he felt the bulk of the flare gun tucked into the back of his belt.

  ‘My blood will be just another drop in the flood. The flood that will wash away humanity’s stain on the world.’

  Blanc walked past Aiden and headed for the main console, a wide, glassy look in her eye. Taking the opportunity, Aiden pulled the flare gun from his pocket and fired it. The flare missed, arcing over her head, but he was already charging at her as it exploded against the wall-screen with a deafening bang.

  Blanc whirled around just as he collided with her. Her gun fired, and pain exploded through Aiden’s left arm as they both sprawled to the floor. Her gun clattered away under a nearby console.

  Weaponless now, Aiden climbed on top of her, trying to pin her down. She struggled with unnatural strength, her features shifting like a wild animal as the intense red light of the flare flickered across her face. She gouged her fingernails in to his wounded arm, and he fell back screaming in agony.

  Blanc jumped to her feet and hunted around for her fallen gun. Aiden gritted his teeth against the pain and jumped at her again, knocking her back into a console, rocking it violently and sending old coffee mugs and papers scattering to the floor. She sank her teeth into his neck as he scrabbled to get his good arm around her. He managed to get a grip on his pistol still stashed in the back of her belt before he fell back, blood pouring from the bite marks in his neck.

  Blanc spat his flesh from her mouth, breathing heavily. ‘You can’t stop this, Aiden. You’re the bad guy here. I’m the hero in this story, purging the world of evil. And guess what? The hero always wins.’

  Aiden struggled to pull himself to his feet, coughing violently on the smoke caused by the flare. He pointed the pistol at her.

  Blanc saw the pistol and dived for the scrap shotgun Aiden had dropped earlier. She aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. The hammer of the weapon clicked, but the cheap makeshift ammo failed to fire. She tossed the useless shotgun aside and began clapping slowly, still bathed in the flickering red light of the burning flare lodged in the shattered wall-screen.

  ‘Well done, Aiden. Maybe you’re not so weak after all. So what’s your plan now, you going to shoot me?’

  ‘I should. I let you go once and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t regret it.’

  ‘How about an exchange then?’ Blanc said.

  ‘We both know you can’t be trusted. What do you have that I could possibly want?’

  ‘Information.’

  ‘I doubt you could tell me anything that I would want to know,’ Aiden said, gritting his teeth as he propped himself up on the console with his elbow.

  ‘Oh? And what if it was about your precious wife?’

  Aiden’s eyes narrowed. ‘Be careful what you say to a man with a loaded gun.’

  Blanc smiled crookedly as she wiped his blood from her mouth. ‘It’s astonishing what you can learn just by listening. You think I was sitting on my hands the whole time I worked for Trent and his Kiln Boys?’ she said mockingly. ‘He was pragmatic that one. Loved the sound of his own voice a bit too much, but he was far from stupid.’ Blanc stared off into the distance for a moment, lost in thought, then snapped back to the present. ‘So, how about a trade then? Information on your lost love for my life?’

  ‘Why don’t you tell me what it is and we’ll go from there.’

  ‘Fine, you aim that gun somewhere else and I’ll start talking.’

  Aiden dropped his pistol to his side as a wave of nausea hit him. ‘Start talking.’

  ‘Your wife, Kate wasn’t it? Me and Trent talked about her once. Now are you ready for this, because it’s a big one?’ Blanc said, grinning as she talke
d.

  ‘Get on with it!’ Aiden snapped.

  ‘It turns out he never killed her! Can you believe that? After he paid her back for that scar on his face, he grew bored as he usually did, and then he sold her. He was gathering people up and selling them to the Dawnists, you see. Making a tidy profit too until they had that falling out when he slapped that righteous bitch Emily.’

  Aiden’s head spun, and he struggled to stay upright. ‘Sold her?’ he said, repeating the words as he tried to comprehend.

  ‘That’s right. To the Dawnists of all people,’ Blanc said, a cruel smile spreading over her thin lips. ‘To think you were so close to her for so long, and you had no idea.’

  Blanc exploded with movement, throwing a nearby mug at Aiden’s head. He raised an arm to deflect it, and it painfully bounced off his elbow. Before he could level his pistol, Blanc was in front of him, jabbing her fingers into his eyes. He fell back to the floor, his leg unable to support his weight, as she wrenched the pistol from his grasp.

  ‘So weak and pathetic,’ she said, disdain dripping from every word as she stood over him. ‘Opening yourself up to people as if they could be trusted. Don’t you ever learn?’

  Adam lumbered in through the doorway then, his cricket bat in hand as he ducked under the door frame to enter the room.

  ‘Ah, good timing, Adam. You’re just in time to watch our plan come together. Watch this moron for me while I finally cleanse the world of filth.’

  ‘Blanc. You hurt,’ Adam rumbled as he walked up to her.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said, brushing herself down. ‘It’s mostly his blood.’

  ‘No. You hurt.’ Adam frowned. ‘You hurt people. I think-’

  ‘Now’s not the time for you to start thinking, you idiotic oaf. Just do as you’re told. Here, take this and-’

  Adam snatched the pistol from her and tossed it across the room where it slammed into one of the dead monitors, shattering the screen.

  ‘Adam, what are you doing?’ Blanc said, wide-eyed. ‘Do as I tell you!’

  ‘No,’ he rumbled. ‘No more.’

  Then the huge man reached out and grabbed Blanc by the neck, lifting her from the ground and causing the decoder to slip from her fingers and tumble to the floor.

  Aiden seized his chance and dragged himself upright, crying out against the pain of his injuries. He limped over and grasped the decoder in his bloody fingers, then forced himself over to the main console. Adam and Blanc continued to struggle behind him, consoles toppling and chairs scattering in the chaos. Concentrating on the task, Aiden placed the decoder in the slot and waited for the screen to update as a grinding sound came from the machine.

  ‘DECODER CHECKSUM VALID. PLEASE SELECT OPTION.’

  Aiden scrolled past the ‘PROJECT SOLACE ACTIVATION’ option and instead highlighted ‘FACILITY DESTRUCTION FAIL-SAFE.’ He tapped the confirm key and a deafening klaxon blared through the bunker as pulsing red lights flared into life overhead.

  Aiden ejected the decoder, snatching it out of the socket and slipping it into his pocket. Then he turned and stumbled out of the control room. As he reached the doors he heard a gunshot.

  He turned to see Adam fall to his knees with a gaping hole in the back of his head. As the giant slumped to the floor, Blanc slowly rose to her feet, breathing heavily with Aiden’s pistol in her hand. Crimson light glinted in her eyes as her malevolent gaze flicked to Aiden.

  LEIGH PICKED HER way carefully along the unfamiliar corridor as a klaxon blared. She caught sight of Aiden limping through a set of huge doors and her heart raced as she saw his clothing drenched in blood. She sprinted forward, calling out his name.

  ‘Leigh? What are-’ Aiden shook his head, pulling her away from the open doors. ‘There’s no time. Take the ID card from my pocket and scan it over that sensor.’

  Leigh did as he said, trying not to look at the blood running from the hole in his neck. She held the card up to the sensor and the light flicked from green to red. As the doors started to grind closed, she caught a terrifying glimpse of Blanc running towards them. Her face was contorted in rage and bathed in flickering red light.

  ‘Now run!’ Aiden shouted over the klaxon.

  Aiden half-limped and half-ran along the corridor as the two of them made for the exit. Leigh heard muffled screams and gunfire behind them as Blanc raged in the now-sealed control room. The bunker was empty as they ran, the klaxon unrelenting as red lights flashed overhead. As they reached the stairs, Aiden tripped and fell, crying out in pain as he jarred his wounded arm against the metal steps.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he hissed through gritted teeth as Leigh helped him to his feet. ‘I told you to stay put outside.’

  ‘Always stick to the plan. Until you can’t,’ Leigh said, repeating Aiden’s words. ‘Lean on me, I’ll help you up the stairs.’

  Aiden did as she said, and Leigh struggled with his weight as they staggered upwards. They made it to the surface, and emerged into the darkness outside where the storm had grown fierce. The wind was deafening now, and the darkness and stinging dust left them with no visibility whatsoever.

  ‘Where’s Hitch?’ Aiden managed to shout over the roar of wind.

  Leigh ignored him and kept dragging him forward. He stumbled again, almost blown over by the wind, but somehow she managed to keep him upright. Reaching out, she found the armoured SUV and pushed Aiden against it as she wrenched open one of the doors. Then she shoved him with all her strength, managing to get him inside where he fell across the back seats.

  Slamming the door shut, she felt her way around to the driver’s seat and climbed inside where Hitch waited. The dog was already whining at the sight of Aiden’s wounds and trying to lick his face. Aiden reached for his dog, but his strength was gone now and he was on the verge of unconsciousness. Leigh pulled the driver’s door closed, shutting out the cacophony of the storm.

  ‘Kate…’ Aiden murmured. ‘You can’t…’

  ‘No, it’s me,’ Leigh said as she fumbled around with the dashboard. ‘Don’t worry, I’m getting us out of here.’ She found the keys in the ignition and turned them. ‘Hold on,’ she shouted as the engine roared to life.

  Copying what she had seen Aiden do, she rammed the stick into gear with a crunch and danced her feet on the pedals until the SUV lurched. Aiden almost tumbled off the seat as they reversed at full speed.

  There was a thunderous explosion and the ground shook beneath them. The armoured SUV was lifted high into the air, wheels spinning against nothing. Leigh ducked her head down between her legs as the truck smashed back to the ground, rolling end over end until it finally crashed against a tree and came to rest upside down.

  EPILOGUE

  MALCOLM PLACED HIS briefcase beside the padded leather chair opposite the desk and took a seat. It had been years since he had last sat in this office, and it was more lavish than he remembered. A radio piped music through a small speaker built into the desk. An enjoyable old tune. He hummed along, recognising the song from years gone by. After it finished, the radio host, Miss Ludgate, began reading a news report.

  ‘Good evening, I’m Grace Ludgate here with the latest news. The second dust storm this month that threatened the Rim has passed by harmlessly. Many abandoned farms were in the path of the destruction, but thankfully it missed the city entirely. So with the storm warning over, residents are safe to come out and enjoy the sun again.

  ‘Meanwhile, the explosion felt in Kiln Commons a few weeks ago has been reported to have been the result of an earthquake. Many residents of the town commented that it was the strongest quake ever felt in the area, with many old buildings within the town suffering structural damage. There have been no reports of casualties.

  ‘In the aftermath of the earthquake, a previously sealed facility near the town was found destroyed. Outside the entrance there were signs of a struggle, and while there were no bodies, firearms were found scattered over the area along with an overturned vehicle, identified as belonging t
o the Crimson Wolves. I reached out to Karen Blanc, leader of the Crimson Wolves, for comment, but so far have received no response.

  ‘In other news, an orphanage in Kiln Commons, run by the charitable Sisters of Grace, burned down yesterday-’

  The door to the office opened, and Samuel stepped inside with a content expression. ‘Good evening, Malcolm,’ he said. ‘It’s great to see you back in the fold after so long.’ The Dawnist leader dropped his leather briefcase on the desk and extended his hand which Malcolm took. ‘So, any problems?’ Samuel asked as he moved around to take a seat at his desk. ‘Are we still on schedule?’

  ‘Everything has been going as planned on my end. The Syndicate are spread thin from the constant skirmishing across the city with Mayor Reinhold.’

  ‘Good, good. I knew you would come through for us.’

  ‘I assume that since we’re having this meeting that it’s almost time?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Samuel said, beaming uncharacteristically. ‘You’ve done a great service. Soon our vision will be realised.’

  ‘So I’m free to leave my role within the Syndicate and rejoin the Church?’

  ‘Not quite yet, but soon, very soon,’ Samuel said as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. ‘There are a few loose ends to tie up before we move on the city.’

  Malcolm ran a hand over his thinning, grey hair. ‘What news of Travis and Emily? I was concerned when I stopped hearing much about them.’

  ‘Travis has been… problematic. I kept Emily in readjustment to keep him in line. She’s still there now, in fact, and she’s been a part of the program for longer than anyone. At this point, she’s essentially an experiment on the effects of long term readjustment.’

  ‘I see,’ Malcolm said. ‘That’s a shame. I always liked Emily. In fact I can’t think of anyone who didn’t.’

  Samuel spread his hands. ‘Some things are necessary for the greater good.’

  ‘And what of your sister, Sasha?’ Malcolm said, sitting forward in his chair. ‘I have missed her terribly. It has been torture not seeing her grow these last years.’