by Blade, CG
“Don’t!” Petra yelled as she grabbed Heather’s hand from across the table and forcefully pulled the bloody glove out of her mouth. Heather jumped back and landed against the cabinets and the counter angry and confused. A tray of surgical tools crashed onto the floor and small vials rolled off of the counter breaking upon impact with the tiled floor. The sound echoed through the hospital. Startled, the two officers quickly turned around as Heather backed up slowly eyeing Petra. She flipped her hand over to look at the wound and fumbled through some cabinets grabbing a bottle of alcohol. She couldn’t stop shaking as she poured the liquid over her wound and let out a big scream. Putting the bottle to her lips she took a big swig and gargled swishing it inside her mouth. She spit the rest in a sink and wiped her face with her sleeve. She had the look of someone who had just taken their first snort of moonshine.
“What the hell is she? Tell me! Tell me now!” Heather screamed in terror. Her body shaking becoming angrier at Petra by the second. “Is she infected with something?”
“Yes.” Petra said softly nodding for her to view the Vidscreen.
The information on the Vidscreen was a confusing mess of numbers and colors. It flickered as the female voice that normaly spoke to the nurses and provided them with data was garbled and incoherant. It became deeper in tone spewing out confusing information and ancient languages as the outline of a human female form started to turn into a half-human half-hornet creature complete with two sets of translucent wings.
Chapter 23
UNIMAGINABLE
Friday October 19th 7:01 PM HST
“I think he is going to give the Address at 8:00 a.m. sharp. Ray talked to him a little while ago and briefed him with all of the information you sent.”
“How are you doing?”
“I’m okay Petra. Sad but okay, the baby is doing fine and Ray is taking great care of me. I kinda wish I would have met the real him earlier in my life now but I’m happy. I miss Norman—and the staff…” Jackie began breaking down crying hard again and sniffling in Petra’s head.
“I promised you we would get to the bottom of this Jackie and we will. Did the drones make it there yet?”
“No. We are currently tracking them somewhere over Tennessee. It should be another couple of hours,” She blew her nose and sniffled, “Stephanie, is she going to be okay?”
“Yes. You just need to break her out of her shell when she gets there. We are currently over the Pacific and should be in Washington D.C. by 9:00 a.m. your time. I’ve got a couple of passengers here that need attention, they’re both sealed up tight and I am quite sure Ray is going to be a little upset when he gets his daughter back. She’s a hot mess.”
“Who’s the other passenger?”
“She’s a nurse, cut herself on Dreama’s exterior. She’s—changing—morphing and I’m not sure if we can help her or not.”
“Okay we’ll do what we can Petra. I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye Jackie.” Petra ended the call and looked out of the window of the Transport-Carrier. The sun was setting casting a beautiful orange glow reflecting off the water as its globe slowly sank over the horizon. The HPD and the soldiers at the Air Force base in Hilo had prepared her passengers for transport. Most of them had been shocked at the sight of these two and the events that had transpired up to now, especially in a tropical, serene state that made a living off tourism and ‘peaceful thoughts’. The world was noticeably different now. Jackie seemed different. America was changing, and not for the better. Lady Liberty was a shell of her former self. Millions of people presumed dead, a Chinese shadow conspiracy with the Vice President smack dab in the middle of it, a half-woman half-hornet lying next to her strapped to a gurney and a nurse infected by who knows what and twenty-two people stung to death, some of them raped. One should never ask the question—“What’s going to happen next?”
“Petra I just picked up a seismic anomaly from one of our satellites over the Pacific Ocean. They measured magnitudes of 13.56 centered in southern California, specifically four areas.”
“Is this data correct?”
“Yes Petra it has been verified by a second synchronous satellite.”
“Which four areas are we talking about?”
“The primary areas are the cities of Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, and Santa Barbara.”
“So are we talking earthquake Ter?”
“I am receiving data now from the USGS satellite Petra. It is not an earthquake. They are vibrations.”
“They’re vibrations, what type of vibrations?”
“Seismic monitors confirm that it is not an earthquake. The vibrations are similar to heavy drilling such as an oilrig but on a much larger scale. The centers of the anomalies converge at one point, the San Andreas Fault line.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me?”
“We’ve been through this in Cobalt Petra. The answer is no, I would not shit you.”
Petra stood up in the back of the Transport-Carrier and walked through the massive cargo bay between the two bodies sealed and strapped to gurneys dreaming in their own worlds. They were receiving sedation and monitoring through electronic arm clamps. Maybe the pilots knew what was going on in California Petra thought as she made her way towards the cockpit. Knocking on the door of the cabin Petra looked out of a window trying to peek at the coast. It was becoming too dark to get a good view and their 25,000-foot cruising altitude made it almost impossible to see where they were. She knocked on the door again. “Hello?” The cabin was door locked tight, its reinforced steel lining cold to the touch. Petra’s imperturbable attitude slowly turning to frustration as no one answered back. “HELLO!” she screamed aloud. Her two Peacemakers now in her hands, she pointed the guns at the cockpit door. Pulling both triggers and emptying the barrels, the lock blasted apart holding the door shut. It swung open. The cockpit was empty. It was as cold as the ambient temperature at 25,000-feet, ice cold. Both seats were void of occupants, ejection seats gone, and the touch screen display was set on automatic pilot. Petra quickly sat in what used to be the pilot’s seat on the left. The top of the cockpit roof was missing. Why did the pilots eject? She tried to engage the virtual yoke. All of the touchscreen displays locked out began flickering and slowly powering down. Lights flashed rapidly in the cockpit and the screen as the jet suddenly nosed down. Wiping the ice and condensation off the failing display, Petra tried desperately to gain control of the 300,000 pound 250-foot long Transport—Carrier now pointing straight down at the earth.
***
“Petra?”
“Petra?”
“Petra? Petra there is a first time for everything. You need to wake up. The world needs you. You are the new America, and she is waiting to be reborn.”
Ter cycled power from Petra’s core processor as the atoms that make up the nucleus of the beginning of a sine wave began to grow larger. The pulses of this wave traveled down to the two wires that the staff implanted over the summer to her heart. A normal cardiac cycle occurs about seventy-two times per minute. Each cycle lasts about eight-tenths of a second. Ter rhythmically sent these waves in succession each time gaining strength and speed until the waves were at the normal speed of a beating heart. Petra’s chest began to heave as wave after wave of shocks began pumping cobalt blood through her body.
“Ah—ah—ah!” Petra lifted her head taking in a huge gasp of air. The air was smoky and black. Her eyes focused slowly to her surroundings.
“Welcome back Petra.”
“What—where are we? What happened? Jim—I spoke to—”
“I had to kickstart your heart Petra. Something the staff gave you over the summer, your very own defibrillator circuit.”
“Where are we?”
“We crashed into Nevada with the Transport-Carrier. GPS coordinates put us in the Amargosa Valley inside of the Nevada state line bordering California. We are currently eighty-seven point nine miles from the center of Las Vegas. We are in Nye County—again. I believe
someone is trying to kill you—again.”
“You think so?” she replied sarcastically shaking debris and dirt from her hair. Scanning the area, nothing was moving. There were a couple of buildings and some fences. She stared up over her chest at the smoking wreckage of the Carrier scattered for a half a mile or so. Had she been thrown out of the Carrier or had she jumped? Standing up checking herself over Petra feeling unstable walked towards the wreckage. I feel something—what is it—“Ter what is that?” There was a vibration under her feet. The ground began to shake.
“It is another seismic anomaly Petra and we are currently on the eastern edge of it.”
What about Dreama and Heather, are they okay? Petra thought starting to walk towards the burning wreckage about 500-feet in front of her. It smelled of the burning thick black smoke as it filled the orange dusky sky. There it was—that vibration again— the ground began to shift under Petra’s feet. She looked down as small pebbles and sand that made up the earth looked as if a miner’s pan was sifting them quickly, back and forth, back and forth. “Ter—what the—hell is happening?” The earth was moving under her feet.
“Petra?”
“Yes Ter?”
“RUN!”
Sensing the strongest vibration in front of her, Petra turned away from the wreckage starting to run east. Still shaken from the crash, equilibrium off kilter, her HUD display and GPS was up and running mapping the route directly opposite from the center of the vibrations. She began to run faster and faster kicking up dirt, stones, and rocks behind her. Running at fifty miles per hour now, she turned her head as the fire and smoke disappeared out of sight, along with the earth. It was caving in behind her as she ran. Her face shield encompassed her head. Her heart started beating faster and faster as she ran past the turnoff for Mercury down the middle of I-95. Approaching Creech Airforce Base, she could hear the earth cracking behind her. Sixty miles per hour now and gaining speed as Ter kicked her processor into overdrive.
“Ter wake Jackie—wake Ray—I don’t care which one right now—!”
“Yes Petra.”
Petra continued to run down I-95, Veterans Memorial Highway, towards Clark County. Creech Airforce Base disappeared. The screams of people echoed behind her as the sound of rushing water and chunks of earth crashing followed loudly. She had run halfway to Las Vegas and could see the small lights of the outer city in front of her. Explosions and fires erupted all around her as she tried to outrun whatever was behind her coming hard and fast from the west. Small animals of all kinds were hopping and darting in front of her, instinctively running for their lives.
“Petra?” Jackie asked her yawning casually, “It’s — four-thirty in the morning. What are you doing?”
“Jackie, get to a Vidset or Vidscreen now!”
“Petra what’s going on?”
“Just do it!” Petra was still following I-95 as the Las Vegas lights became clearer in her view.
“Okay I’ve got my Vidset now what?” Jackie asked yawning loudly—again.
“Punch in my vital monitor code!”
Petra now headed due east turning off I-95 south as her GPS guided her towards the Aliante Hotel and Spa on the north side of the outskirts of Las Vegas.
“Petra are you in a Cruiser?”
“No! I’m running Jackie, I’m running!”
“Petra you’re running at—sixty-two miles per hour! Why?”
“What’s behind me Jackie, what’s behind me?”
“Hold on…” There was silence for a moment as Petra heard an “Oh my God!” in the background. “Petra?”
“Yea Jackie?”
“Petra, California is—gone…”
Chapter 24
BREACHABLE
Saturday October 20th 1:35 AM PST
“Petra I will stay with you, RUN Petra run!” Jackie screamed as she was huffing loudly. “Ray! Ray! Wake up Ray! Wake up now!”
Petra continued to run with her head down and eyes up. A dust trail followed her as hundreds of Casinos became brighter and larger in her HUD. She saw a sign up ahead for Elkhorn Road. The Aliante Casino was just up ahead less than a mile. Its exterior lit up with beautiful red lighting and colorful fountains cascading under the bright white moonlight. She was now passing through a larger group of people who couldn’t keep up with her. They were perishing behind her. She heard their screams as they held on to loved ones plunging down into the earth and the incoming ocean. They would never survive. Swallowing everything behind her the ground was unforgiving as streets, buildings, and memories all disappeared as if they never existed. Taking one last giant stride Petra leapt onto a second floor balcony of the Aliante Casino hanging onto a railing as the waves of the Pacific Ocean swept against the glass windows of a ballroom on the first floor. The rumbling earth and horrible screams seemed to be slowing down to a dull roar. She looked down as she flipped up over the balcony railing. What used to be desert was now Oceanside property. The waves gently crashed into the Casino’s exterior as music played somewhere behind her. It was loud and heavy.
“Petra?”
“Yea Ray?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.” she replied as calmly as if she were staring out into the ocean admiring its beauty and power. The moonlight shimmered over the water. Petra heard a sound off in the distance, getting closer. Moist salt air filled her nostrils.
“Petra—I’m looking at the satellite images right now, we lost—half of California, San Francisco, half of Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Fresno— Reno, all gone—under water.”
“It’s not over yet Ray, something else is happening. What is that Ter, that sound?”
“It sounds like drones Petra.”
You had better wake the President up. Wake him up now Ray!”
“Okay Petra I’ll get back with you—”
Earth that now met the ocean running north following I-95 and beyond straight up the state of Nevada was the recipient of crashing towering waves. The ultimate result of this cataclysmic event was yet to be seen—and heard.
Petra prepared for the worst, morphing into her black armor on the balcony. “Ter I need something for crowd control.”
“Yes Petra.”
Producing two unusual weapons from her HUD catalog, she held six-foot long crossbow-like weapons in each hand, the music in the casino suddenly stopped. The cheers of people stopped. It was silent except for the loud whining machinery that kept coming closer from the west over the ocean. Looking over the foreign weapons, she was holding with admiration, commenting on their functionality. “Ter what are these?”
“Petra those are Raptors. I retrieved them from a program called ‘Pinterest’ in a folder labeled ‘Cool Ass Weapons’ pinned by a girl named ‘Jayne with a ‘Y’’ in the year 2016.”
“She had some imagination.” Petra turned the crossbows over checking them out. Similar to a small Gatling gun, these crossbows were loaded with an eyesight, canisters of arrows with split tips, and a shotgun at the top and bottom that had separate triggers. The crossbows wrapped around her forearms for stability. They were ‘fused’ to her armor. “I guess someone was expecting the zombie apocalypse.” Petra commented. Hearing loud voices, she hopped over the balcony to the first floor to get a better look inside the casino. Onlookers inside of a ballroom had their faces pressed against the glass wondering what the ruckus was going on outside. The ocean waves were crashing into the casino fountains sweeping the patio furniture away as casino guests started to panic and scream.
“Ter we’ve got to get all of these people out of here.”
“Yes Petra they are in grave danger if those are drones.”
Petra swung from the bottom of the second floor balcony edge into the long smoky ballroom window crashing the party feet first sending broken glass flying. Landing on the top of a long marble bar she knocked alcohol and glasses to the floor. People screamed and ran for cover avoiding the flying debris. Two bartenders knocked to the floor covered their heads as the band o
nstage at the far end of the room started to play through the confusion as if they were obligated by contract to be onstage through any type of a disaster. A giant neon gold sign reading ‘STARZ’ shaped like an actual star hanging behind the band members started to sway back and forth as they resumed playing hardly missing a beat.
“Everyone, you have to leave immediately!” Petra yelled to the crowd standing on top of the bar. “You must leave now!” she screamed.
The music drowned out her attempts to warn the drunken patrons. A guy standing right below Petra’s feet below the bar looked up at her, “Hey nice get-up sexy, are you single?—fuck, are you hot!” he took a huge gulp from a glass filled with a clear liquid stumbling away tripping over a chair and falling over on the red carpeted floor face down. Petra aimed both of her crossbows towards the stage and pulled the triggers. Two double-tipped arrows left both the Raptors and within seconds hit two large main speakers sitting behind the stage. They exploded as sparks, smoke, and fire erupted out of them. The buzzed crowd went wild and cheered loudly as flames rose up behind the band.
“I believe they think that was part of the act.”
Petra jumped down off the bar and made her way to the front of the stage. The lead singer noticed her curves immediately and bent down inches from her face wailing, “No that’s a Violation…” with his eyes closed, he began to ‘woo’ her. Petra grabbed the microphone out of his hand while he was in mid-syllable.
“Attention! Everyone, you must leave immediately!” She yelled into the mic.