They took turns fanning the air trying to stay cool. Many of them stripped off their combat gear to lie on the floor of the cave.
Alpha Nine remained in full combat gear standing guard slightly past where the light shone into the cave’s opening.
Sweat beading off his forehead. The heat diminished and the breeze picked up sending cool air into the caves opening. But where the breeze stirred, so did something else.
Alpha Nine rushed back into the cave screaming at the others to cover their eyes just in time for the dust storm to hit.
Thick red dust filled the cave. Alpha Nine covered his face with the bottom of his shirt and made his way blind through the cave towards where he knew Bravo Two once was.
He felt an arm, lifted it and forced his eyes to stay shut when it fell dead weighted to the rock floor. The others could still be heard coughing as they too struggled to shield their lungs from the filth that had invaded their air.
A loud crack came from the walls of the cave and Alpha Nine feared that the walls themselves would come down upon them. A cold, swift wind enveloped them and the air became instantly clean and thin.
Alpha Nine removed his shield and peeked from beneath his lashes at what he now had to face.
The back of the cave had opened and a white room awaited their entry. He glanced around for fear that he was the only survivor.
Bravo Two sat huddled against the wall. He paused watching her body for any sign of life. Relief filled him when her ribs moved outwards as she took breath. He grabbed her combat jacket and laid it over her shoulders. She looked up at him, her eyes barely able to open as the red dust sat thick and matted in her lashes.
Zulu Two’s body lay sprawled across the floor of the cave; his chest wasn’t moving and Tango Five sat at his feet. His eyes too were sticky with the red dust, the only evidence it had come at all.
The caves surfaces had been swept clean of it. They picked up the others, all continuing to cough up what dust remained in their lungs.
Alpha Nine was the last survivor to step into the white room and he looked back at the phase they had passed. The most vicious, the most nonsensical.
“The weather does not act this way, the beasts they used are only native to the jungles of the southern world. They gained nothing from this phase except to watch more of us die uselessly--one even at our own hands,” he said mostly to himself. Alpha Nine leant close to Bravo Two’s ear as she picked at the stiffening dust on her lashes. “This is wrong."
“It has always been wrong. They didn’t really need these phases, we all could have helped with the battle; better they died trying to save humanity than fighting for the chance to die saving humanity,” she replied.
“We need to find a way out; we will tell the others when we get a chance. I’ve had it with this place. I’m done playing their games,” Alpha Nine struggled to keep his voice to a whisper.
The door to the cave closed behind them and the room moved. First vertically, jolting to a stop before moving horizontally for only a few seconds more. When it stopped abruptly again, the wall hissed and the vacuum released around the door seal before it retracted from the middle out to either side.
A sweet smell filled the air and their eyes darted around the tiled room before them. Several stalls lined the room. Shower heads peeking out from each, like chrome trees with arched branches beckoning them to come forwards.
They all stripped down quickly, no modesty, simply their driving need to free their bodies of the sweat and dust which clung to them like red paint. They each took a stall, the walls frosted enough to shield most of their bodies from each other’s view.
Alpha thought about his creation as the water ran over his back. He thought about what they made him, how they altered his body, his mind. He wondered what they could have taken out completely--were they really that different from the humans they were created to protect?
He sighed and let the water run over his face, the perfect temperature. Grabbing the soap, he scrubbed at his flesh. The soap washed away the memories of those he watched die along with the red dust, the water cleansed him, relaxing his muscles.
He turned, then everything moved in slow motion.
The water falling over her hair as she ran her fingers through it. Her glistening body twisting under the gleaming water as the soap dripped down her legs and circled around the drain before disappearing. His gaze rose up her legs as she turned under the water.
“Alpha Nine,” Kilo called from beside him, breaking whatever hold the water had over him.
“What is it?” he asked Kilo, turning his back to the other stalls and burying his face again in the cleansing water.
“How many more phases do you think there are to this place?”
“I don’t know.” He filled his mouth under the shower before spitting it down the drain. “They have culled most of the group; it hardly seems worth it to grow us all then kill so many.”
“So what is the plan?”
“No plan, we take what they dish out, survive and get out of here. When the Annoronians attack, at least we know we will be able to survive if a sudden heatwave hits or we are blasted with a dust storm.”
“So you agree this is crazy?” Kilo sighed and rested his head on the edge of Alpha Nine’s shower stall, looking up to the ceiling.
“I always thought it was wrong, even before the pod opened, it isn’t logical.”
“Wait, before the pod opened?” His head shot up. “You mean, you were awake before the pod opened?”
“Yes, why?”
“No one else has said anything about being awake before. We were talking in the cave, while you slept, all of us woke up to the sound of the woman asking us to dress and await instruction.”
“All of you?” Alpha Nine asked, as the water stopped on all the showers all at once.
“All of us.”
Kilo tapped on his shower head, a few remaining drops fell then a burst of warm air came out of each of them and with the aid of their inbuilt temperature regulation, they dried quickly.
Small squares formed over their stalls and then the hiss of air and the square lowered down, presenting each with a clean personalised set of combat gear.
Alpha sat to lace his boots and noticed the same symbol on the side of each of them. The symbol for Terminus. We were made for the Swarm. How many Terminus facilities are there that they can afford to recycle so many? He ran his fingers over the embossed symbol.
“Alpha Nine,” Kilo called from a doorway that had snaked its shape across the walls surface but was yet to hiss and open.
His train of thought broken, Alpha quickly tied the laces then joined the others who had regrouped at the doorway, ready to await whatever came next.
But when a few minutes passed and nothing happened, Alpha Nine took the opportunity to let the others in on what he had planned.
“We might be able to hijack the feed,” he said in a hushed whisper. “If we find the control room, maybe we can get into the access panels the next time they open, follow them to wherever they go.”
“Do you really think so?” Bravo Two asked, leaning in close. They had all washed with the same soap, but she smelled sweeter somehow.
He breathed in a little deeper, the boost in oxygen making him a dizzy for a second. He shook his head side to side and focused on Kilo One.
“Anywhere would be better than in here don’t you think?”
“Well sure,” Kilo One said. “But here is where we are until they say we are done and ready to prep for the war.”
“Not if we get out on our own. Think about it. If we have more phases to come, then they would have to be worse than what we have endured,” he said, looking to each of them huddled around him. “That last dust blast was pointless, there is no reason for this. It is like they don’t want us to survive at all. How many have they recycled so far?” They all traded glances. “So, who is in?” Alpha Nine looked from face to face, they all shared a small nod, and then again went about
waiting for the room to decide to speak with them.
After another few minutes of silence Alpha Nine couldn’t take it anymore. “What will you throw at us next?” he called to the empty ceiling. The wall opposite him buzzed to life and the woman’s image, slightly fuzzy appeared.
CHAPTER SIX
“The next phase will begin shortly, please follow the corridor,” the dull woman said before the screen snaked away and a new doorway opened.
Alpha Nine went first, following the corridor, checking each turn for danger before calling the others forwards.
The corridor opened onto a suspended platform above a dark abyss and they made their way onto it carefully, taking each step slowly to not tip the unstable platform and send any of them falling to their deaths. When they had all reached the center the screen appeared again.
“Stay on your feet, stay on the platform. That is all.”
Then she disappeared. The platform quivered then dipped slightly to the left.
“Everyone link arms. Tango Five, you and I will lead the group, you all follow as we do.”
They linked arms, holding tightly hand to forearm. Alpha Nine and Tango Five stood opposite each other and wrapped one of their arms around the two wires connected to the platform before taking hold of the other’s arms also.
The surface tilted to the right then back to the left. It swayed violently twisting clockwise as it did. They followed Alpha Nine and Tango Five’s lead, each of them moving in time with their steps. The platform moved but they managed to stay on their feet.
Then the wire Tango Five held snapped and the platform tipped quickly to the side, sending them sliding towards the edge. Tango Five moved to steady the group and the platform. The remaining wire cut into Alpha Nine’s arm as he struggled to help keep the group level with the floor.
“There is a center post, the wires aren’t going to hold long and when that one goes we will likely tip, we have to be ready. Make a circle around the middle,” Tango Five said, straining his voice as he pulled the others over to take some strain off Alpha Nine and prepare for the next wire to go.
Alpha Nine’s wire snapped.
Bravo Two shrieked.
The platform tipped and Alpha saw their eyes widen.
“To the center!” he screamed as the platform swayed uncontrollably back and forth. “Control your footing.”
They gripped each other’s arms tightly, pulling at one another to get to the center. Fingernails dug into the flesh at his arms.
“Focus!” Tango Five yelled. He reached Alpha Nine and grabbed his other arm creating a circle.
The cuts made by the wire burnt at his touch, but Alpha Nine didn’t pull away. They made it to the middle and the platform steadied.
“They don’t want anyone to survive,” Alpha Nine whispered to Tango Five at his side. If the others heard him, they didn’t have a chance to reply. The platform dipped horribly again and Bravo Two lost her footing.
For a moment, the world slowed down and all Alpha Nine saw was Bravo Two. Her hair swept back in golden waves. Her eyes wide with terror.
He yanked his arm free of Tango Five. Caught Bravo Two around the waist, and pulled her up. Time returned to normal and Tango Five gripped his jacket as he tried to maintain control of the platform. Bravo Two pressed against him, still held firm by his arm around her waist.
The platform grumbled. Alpha let go of Bravo Two’s waist to help steady the group with Tango Five.
The platform quickly dropped about ten meters.
They screamed, but held their ground. The hissing began again and the platform rose, it rose higher and higher until it sat but a meter from the ceiling. An opening appeared.
“One at a time, let’s go,” Alpha Nine said pointing up. “Move now.”
They took turns leaning on Alpha Nine and Kilo One as they each climbed up and into the opening. The platform buzzed and fell a few more meters, Tango Five lost his grip on the edge of the opening and fell back to the others on the platform, it still swaying on its precarious post.
When it rose again Kilo One pushed Tango Five up high towards the others waiting for them. They grabbed his arms and pulled him quickly through the hole.
“You’re next Kilo One,” Alpha Nine said, linking his fingers together and tapping his hands on his bent knee, ready to boost him up. As Kilo One stood on his knee, the platform fell again, this time further. They tumbled and Alpha Nine nearly went over the side.
Someone screamed.
Kilo One crawled quickly to the opposite edge to level the platform and it nearly tipped his direction on its return.
Then there was a moment of complete silence.
Broken first by the sound of Alpha Nine’s pulse echoing in his ears, then by the breath he hadn’t notice he’d been holding escaping his lips.
Kilo squatted across from him, eyes wide, skin pale and chest unmoving.
“Breathe Kilo,” Alpha said softly. “Slow and steady back to the middle.”
They pulled themselves to stand. Both edged their way to the center then waited for the platform to rise again, but it didn’t.
Bravo Two called from above them.
“We will get you up, hold on.”
They waited as the platform swayed back and forth. They linked arms and swayed with it, keeping it as level as they could. It dropped again as Kilo One felt something brushed his back. It was a sleeve.
The others had taken off their clothes to make a rope they could climb. Peering from above they were almost naked but ready to rescue Alpha Nine and Kilo One.
“You first,” Alpha Nine said to Kilo. “I will be close behind.”
Kilo One grabbed the combat gear rope and climbed. A loud hiss came as the platform fell and Alpha Nine leapt in time to grab the end of the rope, too. The others pulled as the two climbed. The opening above started to close and the group called to them to climb faster.
Tango Five pulled Kilo through and then the others yanked hard and fast to fling Alpha Nine through the opening before it closed completely.
They all dropped to sit on the floor, exhausted but happy that they all survived the phase.
“What a joke,” Kilo One breathed out, seemingly trying to steady his heart rate.
“That was what I was worried about,” Alpha Nine said. “We are surviving in greater numbers than they want, the phases will not be all we have to worry about. They are getting sneaky.”
“Even more reason to watch out for each other,” Bravo Two said as she laid her hand over Alpha Nines. The others would have spotted the action but said nothing. Nor did Alpha Nine.
Barely after catching a breath, a wall hissed and they stood quickly. It opened and revealed a hotel room, or a mock-up of one. A television, bar fridge, double bed, spa bath, telephone, remote and bible. The bed had been stripped of all bedding but a base sheet.
“They obviously don’t expect us to sleep,” said Tango Five as he sat on the end of the bed.
“I don’t know what they expect, but we can do something with this stuff,” Alpha Nine said, pointing at the television and phone.
“Who are you going to call? The police?” Bravo Two joked.
“No, Alpha Nine is right, if we can get into one of those panels we might be able to tap the video feed, find a way out of here,” said Tango Five.
They hastily worked, not knowing if or when the screen would reappear sending them into their next phase.
They had the back of the television off and the other electrics pulled apart within a few minutes, the tip of their knives making good screwdrivers. Alpha Nine and Tango Five searched the walls for hidden panels, running their fingers along the smooth surface.
“It is no use; the wall is too smooth,” Tango Five said spinning his knife in his hand. “How are we supposed to find a panel when there is not even a minor imperfection in any wall?”
Frustrated, Tango Five threw his knife at the wall beside the television. The lights in the room flickered.
"Blo
ody hell, well looks like there is a panel over here then,” he said, walking over and reaching out to grab his knife.
“NO!” Alpha Nine yelled as he ran full speed at Tango Five crash tackling him moments before he could grab the knife.
“Get off me,” Tango Five said with a shove at him.
“Look,” said Bravo Two from beside them. They followed her gaze and saw the tiny blue squiggles running up the metal inlay in the hilt of his knife. “It is electrified.”
Alpha Nine stood up and held his hand out to Tango Five.
“Thanks,” he said, taking Alpha’s hand and pulling himself up. “So how do we get the knife out without dying?”
“Leave that to me.” India One walked over with something in her hand. She wrapped the object around her hand, and only then did Alpha notice her limp. She had taken off one of her shoes. The item was the rubber inner sole.
With the rubber wrapped around her hand she easily and safely pulled the knife free. The wall hissed around the hole and the faintest of lines appeared in a rectangle shape around it. Wrapping the knife with the rubber sole, she used it to pry open the panel. “Let’s hope you didn’t fry the wires we actually need,” she said, pulling the knife free and stabbing it into the table top before stepping away. “So how do we do this?”
Alpha Nine and Kilo One worked on connecting the phone and television wires to create a controllable feed while Tango Five worked safely on the wires in the panel.
“Cut me a sliver of that sole, would you?” Tango Five asked India One. She smirked as she pried the blade from the table top. Slicing off a corner of the rubber she then handed it to him before stabbing the knife into the table again.
He took the green wire from Alpha, and using the scrap of sole as a buffer, he wound the end of it around the end of the blue wire from inside the panel.
The television screen flickered but only static showed.
Taking the brown wire from the phone he reached for the red wire in the panel, but his grip of the sole scrap slipped. A loud crack sounded and he shot backwards across the room.
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