by Frank Albelo
After I had fallen unconscious holding on to Gamma, she had done her best to put me in a defensible position. Not long after the battle ended however, howling and snarling filtered through the woods. I assumed it was the mass I had felt moving through the wilderness, but I wasn’t sure how we had survived.
“The moment another mutant cleared the trees around us you… changed. One moment you were peacefully next to Lara while I supported myself with a branch,” she motioned to the makeshift crutch, “the next you were on top of one of the really tall mutants with the long arms.”
Gamma explained that my eyes had rolled back into my head, similar to what Koma had described happened when I overused my mutations. The most haunting thing was that the youth said my scaling began to turn white also. The more of my head and arms turned white the faster I moved as more mutants poured into the clearing.
The girl explained that from that point on she was too frightened to move. “It was as if death had descended on them,” she said.
The expression felt a bit odd coming from someone so young, but I must have been rubbing off on her. Apart from describing my coloration change and that I had somehow defended her from the encroaching horde, Gamma didn’t say anything else. I tried to look her in the eye, but every time she would avert her gaze slightly. I knew there was more she wasn’t telling me, but I wasn’t going to push.
“I… am still sorry. I need to do more. No, have to do more. If only—” for the second time in the day I was attacked. This time it was Delta. With his entire fist.
“Quit your whinin’, Alpha. This asshole planet, or moon, or where ever the fuck we are has been shitting on us since the start. We would be thirty feet in the snow if you hadn’t helped us. Now get your head out of your ass, because we could really use it.”
There were a few small, quiet nods from the others. I pressed my lips together, doing my best to push the nagging doubt and anger that had been building my whole life. Through sheer force of will I stood, the joints of my body creaking audibly. My body felt gaunt; the armoring that once hugged my body was looser and large portions of it were straight up missing. This is nothing. I thought to myself.
Indeed. Considering you have been asleep for five days I should say so.
I recognized the mental link to Koma almost instantly. If thoughts could be coated in sarcasm, the Calforn’s words were drowning in it.
Well. Where’s my welcome committee, Koma? I can only assume you aren’t as shaken as everyone else about Lara?
While I had my mental conversation with Koma I did my best to multitask and talk lightly with the others. We had returned to B1 since the group hadn’t had time to return to the surface before Koma bolted.
Our friends are tending to you. I am tending to our friends.
With his thoughts Koma flashed a thought of anger and exhaustion.
Koma, what’s going on?
There was silence through our mental connection so I expanded my mind out. I could feel the connection weakened through the walls of the building, but I sensed the Calforn nearby. All around him however were several muted signals.
Mutants.
Why are there so many mutants? I pushed my thoughts at him, while straining a smile at Beta who was handing me a baked potato from our stores. I sat in one of the chairs while the others busied with arranging our supplies, feeding the fire and resting. Marvin stood watch at the entrance to the tier.
I wanted to rush out there, but my body was still responding too slowly and my thoughts were still sluggish. I tried to remain calm while I assessed the battle raging not far from the building.
Every minute or so one of the muted signals would vanish completely. I was certain Koma was fighting but I wasn’t sure why such a large amount of mutants were in the area of the city we had mostly cleared. Fifteen minutes later I got my answer when Koma returned, stumbled by Marvin and fell face first to the ground.
One of the Calforn’s limbs was missing at the elbow and he was breathing heavily. I rushed over to him, ripping a section off my pant leg to stem the flow of red-grey blood escaping his arm.
More. Coming. Challenge you. Adept Calforn.
The man slumped to the ground, his breathing threatening to disappear all together. No. No no no! Not again!
“Get me some rags! Anything to stop the blood!” The others had been standing around us in mute horror. A second ticked. Beta was on us a heartbeat later, ripping off a section of his shirt to cover the stump while I mutated claws onto my right hand. I cut my pants into ribbons and tied them around his arm to fashion a tourniquet, trying to stop the blood, but it wasn't working.
“Move, you need a windlass to stop the blood properly.” Hunter pushed me out of the way as he held one of the small wooden pieces of wood we had been using for firewood.
The man tied a knot further up Koma’s arm, placed the stick and twisted until it constricted visibly on the Calforn’s limb. The flow of blood through our poor bandaging nearly stopped and Koma breathed a little easier.
“What the fuck happened!?” asked Delta from behind me.
I looked up, Hunter was peering down the staircase to the command center and the others were now moving to activate their armor.
“I’m not sure. He whispered something about more.” Pushing out my senses I scanned the block. Now that my mind was more alert, I could feel the range of my mind had expanded significantly from previous scans I had done. While the others continued to arm themselves as best they could, Gamma having been reprimanded for even considering going out, I found a chilling signal.
“Zeta. Zeta!” I pulled the woman’s attention. “Give me three packs of rations. No, make that four.”
I only saw minute hesitation in the woman’s face as she handed me the food. I scarfed down three of the ration and tucked the last pack into my belt. I still felt haggard but I flexed my Hyperburn and my body ate up the food. I felt my body fit into the suit miniscule better. I had no time to wonder about the specifics of how I had known to restore my mass like that, but I moved to exit the building.
“Gamma, please watch over Koma.” I told the girl. She replied with a mute nod as she collected rocks from one of the corners of the room and set them next to the unconscious Calforn.
Before I stepped into the staircase I felt an arm on my shoulder. I turned to Hunter looking up at me. Was I always this tall? I thought.
“We found this where we recovered you. I took the liberty to clean it off for you. Maybe you won’t fumble it this time.” The man handed me my pipe wrench.
I almost got emotional. After our fight with the vultures I had searched incessantly for the wrench but found no indication of it. Nearly a month later, it was back in my hands. I felt the familiar, but lighter, weight of the tool turned weapon. Closing my hand on it, I nodded at Hunter as we all made our way downstairs.
Chapter 15: Alpha’s Call
In a few minutes we were all standing around the entrance to B1. I attached the pipe wrench to my cross belt and pushed out my mind. As soon as I had, the maddened roars of an experiment filled my mind. Oddly enough, even when closer to it I didn’t feel as overwhelmed and instead pushed back on its pressure. I thought I heard whining before the roar came back in full.
“Ready up. I hear something coming. Delta, Hunter and I will take point. Zeta. You, Beta and Dana should try to flank whatever comes at us while the others will run interference where they can. Marvin will be our supplies relay, there are plenty of—” I was cut off by a preternatural roar, this time not in my head.
Coming around the bend of the road was a truly massive bear. The most horrifying thing was that the creature was not made from one single animal. Patchwork pieces of skin and fur made up its snout and I could see something writhing behind its massive head. There were two mid sections, one black and one brown, with their front paws each and the hind legs had swollen to enormity, probably to accommodate the bulk of the creature. I almost froze as the six-legged beast charged us, but I sna
pped everyone to attention.
Gritting my teeth I charged forward, yelling at Delta and Hunter to attack whenever I managed to give an opening. I felt my legs elongate with ease as my inverted leg mutation took hold and I shot forward even faster. I held back my Hyperburn. I had a hunch that this would be a grueling stamina battle and timing its use would be key. I felt the wind inside the city rush by me. The beast bear huffed, steam rising off its massive body.
When I was only a few feet away I changed course quickly, causing the beast to hesitate with its massive momentum, them jerked back on course. I leapt onto the mutant’s head and bashed one of its eyes with my wrench causing it to howl and attempt to stop completely to shake me off. Its four front paws gripped the ground with frightening strength and the creature halted after a second. Not prepared for the sudden deceleration I flew off its face.
Not wasting the opportunity to eviscerate its downed opponent, the experiment redoubled its forward trot. It tried to open its mouth, but got a trio of rocks to the jaw instead. I wasn’t sure who threw them, but I knew the others were supporting me and it gave me enough time to pick myself up and dodge the bear. The creature barreled past me.
As I felt the creature try to turn back to nip me, I extended my right arm and extended claws out. With a short enhanced jump I clung to the bear’s side. I was ready to tear into the bear when I realized I had combined both Appendage mutations at the same time. The hesitation allowed the bear to shake me off and nearly stomp me as I rolled on the ground. The creature was strong and fast but it had poor maneuverability. I noted the way its limbs were not as coordinated as they could be and weaved underneath it, raking my claws along its belly.
My attack elicited a roar of pain and frustration from the creature as it black tar like blood leaked onto the stone streets.
I was beginning to tire since my body had only just recovered from whatever I had done in the woods. While the bear thrashed and the others continued to pummel it with stones I crept closer to it on its blind spot. Doing my best to time this attack, I flexed Hyperburn to the max. I felt strength fill me as all my muscles, specially my legs, swelled. The combination of Hyperburn and my claws allowed me to climb the twenty foot creature. When I reached its neck, it must have realized what I was trying to do.
The strange writhing I had seen behind its head revealed itself as four thick tentacles. The limbs had been wrapped around the creature’s neck, mostly hidden from sight. I felt like I was part of one of the old human sports: bull riding. Except this one involved a mutated alien bear and clawed tentacles that tried to tear into me. I stabbed back and forth along the bear’s wide back with my claws. It was precarious to say the least as I slapped the tentacles with my wrench and simply did my best stay on the creature.
I don’t know how long I rode and swatted the tentacles, but after some time the bear’s back became slick with its blood. My grip faltered on my wrench as the creature stood upright on its hind legs. The world tilted and I was forced to trigger my Hyperburn again just to stay on the mutant. The tentacles on its back saw it as the perfect opportunity and lashed out at me. I was just outside of their range, but I heard their claws streaking the top of my helmet.
I was getting desperate. The creature was huge and if anyone other than me or Koma took a hit they would be dead, but clinging and distracting it was doing nothing for actually killing it. I felt frustration and anger resurface. The memories of Lara’s death still fresh in my mind. A throbbing pulse ran through my body as the Overmind chimed in my thoughts.
I wasn’t certain what triggered it, but my body swelled with energy as well as obscene amount of pain. It felt as if liquid fire was pumping through my veins and a counter started to tick in my brain.
The numbers started to climb down as the pain intensified. I didn’t wait to find out what exactly the Overmind meant by ‘death’ so I grit my teeth and embraced the roiling fire. I drove my wrench up to the head into the creature’s back with ease. The tentacles snapped at me with fury and the bear moved to roll on the ground. I noticed the world begin to spin as the bear tipped to the ground but I left my wrench and clambered away from the approaching ground. As the bear commenced its roll I jumped off its back.
I took a second to assess the state of the others and saw that the group other than the flankers were still accounted for and set on lobbing stones. I gauged the distance between me and the bear. The moment it spun and impaled itself deeper on my wrench I launched forward. I concentrated on my arm mutations and the claws extended about two more inches. I took a deep breath and leapt over the mutant bear. Using my momentum I tore eight wide gashes on its side, causing blood to spray out. Two of the bear’s paws caught me on the backswing of its thrashing but before I could be swung too far I latched on to one of its limbs.
I felt the pain intensify once again as the countdown ticked past twenty percent, but I pushed through as I coughed blood into my helmet. The blood obscured my visor from inside but I didn’t dare let go to retract my helmet as I propped my legs on the bear’s chest and heaved. Its middle paw’s bone snapped, then the limb ripped like a zipper opened forcefully. I flew through the air while holding on to the limb, my coiled legs having turned the pull into a jump and crashed on my back.
I saw sparks as my few remaining armor pieces ground against the stone floor. I shouted in my mind. Off. Off! OFF! Until the Overmind responded.
I didn’t have time to comment on the increased complexity of the messages the Overmind was giving, or the easy with which I processed them, but I retracted my helmet and sought out the nutritional intake.
I tore into the bear’s limb with wild abandon. The disgusting fur was ripped off the hide by my sharpened claws. I gagged for a moment, but let the primal instinct take over me. I recognized it as the sensation that came when I pushed my mutations to the limits. I felt like I was watching a movie through someone’s eyes. The beast inside me did not care about the taste, or the gore that covered it, only survival. While I was in the primal state I could not look around to see what was going on with the fight; I could only hope that the others were able to capitalize on the downed bear.
Time stretched on as I ate the majority of the forelimb. I felt the hunger satiate and the Overmind released control of my body. As I frantically wiped the remains and thick blood it spoke in my head.
I could only assume that I had restored the death counter by twenty-nine percent. I shook my head again and stretched out my mind to find the experiment only for it to come up blank. I pushed out further and felt nothing until I reached the unconscious Koma inside B1. I picked myself up off the floor and laid eyes on the end of the battle.
The bear was mostly inert but the wiggling clawed tentacles lashed out at the Digits as they tried to approach. Delta and Hunter each held their shields at the ready as they blocked the claws from reaching the Digits wailing on the creature’s back. Blood covered the group from head to toe. Through the gore I saw that the gashes I had made on the bear still squirted blood up into the air. For a second all four tentacles slackened and I saw the defenders visibly relax. The next instant the appendages sprung forth again.
Just as they were about to make contact with the Digit pair, I saw a pair of metal flashes as Beta and Dana cleaved through two and a half of the tentacles. The final one shuddered and collided with Delta. The gruff man skidded back, supported by a surprised Galileo and Gamma. Dana quickly spun on her feet and severed the final limb as the half cut one flailed, maimed.
The entire group eyed the experiment. They scurried backwards, pulling Delta with them and I hobbled over to meet them.
“Alpha!” I heard Beta shout. As the boy rushed over I did a quick count. Ten. Everyone had made it through the or
deal. I patted the youth on the shoulder as he helped me reach the group.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” coughed Delta.
The man’s helmet had been retracted and I could see a pained expression on his face. I approached as Zeta checked him over. Apart from a few light scratches on his arms he seemed to be fine which was worrying. Our concern must have been painted on our faces because Delta made a show of strength and stood up with a grunt.
“Bah! Probably a bruised or broken rib. I’ll just be out of the action for a little while”
Zeta looked like she wanted to interfere with a wack to the head on the older Digit, but I saw her change her mind. Instead she roughly grabbed the man by the arm and started to whisper into his ear. The older man blanched considerably as Zeta led him back to B1. I patted Beta and told him to head back with the others. I lingered by the experiment’s corpse as the Digits began their climb to the command room. After what felt like several minutes of silent contemplation I heard someone clear their throat behind me.