Hell's Own

by T S Weaver

  She didn’t need to add to the threat. “Yeah, I get it.” Did Marines go through regular mental health checks? Maybe she’d slipped through the cracks on her last checkup. This wasn’t sane behavior. “Hope they have more suits than they’ve found. Or this is going to be impossible. With the dome cracked, and a hell of a lot of debris, the emergency suits won’t be enough if we have to crawl through the colony. Too many risks for a basic suit to be damaged.”

  “If they have better suits, we can get them out.” She followed the group into the next set of rooms. “It’s not impossible with emergency suits, but it will make life harder.”

  He fell silent, knowing his words wouldn’t be accepted, and let his gaze move over the room. Damaged, cracks in walls and ceiling both, not large enough to carry through to the surface, or spill a wall onto unsuspecting survivors, but too large to be dismissed as harmless after the way so many buildings had collapsed. Boxes, large and small, lay stacked along the walls. Cubes of unknown supplies, the boxes filled with who knew what. Had the survivors checked them for suits, food, water? Anything? Or had they remained hidden away in rooms deeper under the colony?

  “Where are the others?” Lawbook asked as they walked through the chamber.

  The teen paused to key in the code to open the door. “In here. It’s one of the deepest rooms. Least, we think so. There are other doors, places we could explore, but we haven’t taken the risk. Not after the first chamber. The cracks were starting to appear, and we moved before we lost the air. It’s what sent us searching for a better place to hide, and we found this.” The door opened, and he slipped through, followed by Lawbook.

  Stone paused for a moment. One of the chambers had leaked? Made sense after what they’d seen. He glanced back, taking in the numbers with them, and entered the room.

  Men, women, and children greeted him with silent, fearful stares. They didn’t wear their masks, keeping them pushed back from their faces. But the room had enough air, and though chilled, it wasn’t freezing.

  A small whimper. The cry of a frightened child quickly soothed by an adult.

  His gaze narrowed. A baby? He stared at the bundle clasped tight by a trembling woman. Fantastic. The last thing he needed to deal with was a blasted baby. And where there was one, there could be others. How did they expect to get kids out of here without being discovered?

  “How many kids are here, little ones I mean.” Stone turned his attention to the teen.

  “Five too young to be in school. One of them a babe. Two are toddlers, half carried, half walking on their own, two old enough to keep up with help.”

  “Five. Right. And suits for them?”

  “Only the emergency suits we all use.” The teen replied.

  “You have a name?”

  “Jakob.” A small smile flickered across his features as he ran one hand through shoulder length black hair, well marked with dust. Pale green eyes met his gaze, then turned away. “You’re a smuggler.”

  “She didn’t tell you that part.” Stone didn’t turn his gaze away from Jakob.

  “No, it’s easy enough to figure out, with what she did say. How she worded it. Besides, there’s a look to men like you, so my Dad said.”

  Said, past tense. “He wasn’t with you when this happened?”

  “Pulled a shift at the medical center, I haven’t seen him since.” Jakob scuffed one hand across his face. “He might be safe. Could be he made it into one of the shelters, but I don’t think he did. He’s gone, same with Ma and the babe.” He swallowed, his gaze shimmering with unshed tears.

  “They might...” Stone let the words trail away. “I’m sorry.” Offering the teen false hope would backfire sooner or later. “Lot of good people lost in this mess. Not something we can undo.” A heavy weight settled across his chest, and he rubbed the heel of his hand into his sternum. What was going on with him? Too long spending time in the dark, making his way through tunnels and scrambling across the remains of the colony. “Where are the supplies? Your back up suits?” He had to get his mind back on track.

  Women drew back away from them as he took the chance to do a visual sweep of the room and those within it. A handful of men, five who were adult. Mostly women and children, teens like his guide, younger ones stayed out of grabbing range, but none of them made the noise he had come to expect when dealing with children. No shrieks of joy, no loud noises, only frightened stares, and startled movements.

  “Over there.” Jakob nodded at the boxes along the left-hand side. “We haven’t found a lot of usable items yet, only the ten suits. Might be a few extra emergency suits.” He tapped the small pack on his belt which would have contained the transparent, emergency suit he and the others wore. Every man, woman, and child on the colony carried a suit with them. It took seconds to activate, which is why the colonists were expected to carry theirs with them at all times. And had back-ups in their living quarters. “Food and water, medical supplies. No, I know we have those, but I couldn’t be sure about the rest. I’ve not been in charge of inventory. Salla is, she’s the blond over in the corner.”

  “Thanks.” He didn’t wait for anything more the teen might say. Salla, interesting name, and it fit the woman. Older the Jakob, upper teens, maybe twenty. Legal, but too young for him, but he couldn’t turn away from her. If she were a few years older, and they weren’t hiding out from invaders, he might have other plans for them both. She was tall, willowy, sweet curves, a determined look on her heart-shaped face. Pretty with the ability to turn beautiful with the right touch. “Salla?”

  She turned, long hair brushing her shoulders, green eyes meeting his gaze. “Yes?”

  “I hear you’re in charge of supplies and might have an inventory list.” He relaxed. No point in frightening the girl.

  “Something like that.” Her full lips flattened. No smile of welcome. No warmth. Had he lost his touch? “But why would I hand it over to you?”

  “Cocky aren’t you?”

  “Is there information you want to get off your chest?” She pushed one hip out, rested a hand on it, and shook her hair back from her face. “Go on, say it. Whatever it is.”

  Spirit. Strength. And this wasn’t going anywhere. “Just need the list. The sergeant will want the information before she commits to a plan to get you out of here.” Flirting wasn’t workable with Salla, not in the current situation. She’d take it the wrong way. Hell, what other way could it be taken? Flirting to get information only worked if you put your heart into it.

  And flirting with Salla, with a woman barely out of childhood and one he had to spend time with until he found a way of escaping, would be the biggest mistake of his life.

  Cora ignored Stone as he moved away. The man was trouble, and she had no doubt Stone was searching for a means of escaping at the first chance. Jakob waved at Salla and walked over to the woman, leaving Cora with the third teenager who’d joined them. “I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Lukas Vein,” a small smile tugged at his lips only to vanish. “We weren’t certain you’d find us. Once we realized the attackers might be listening in, we didn’t dare reach out again.”

  “Lukas, you and the others have done amazing work here. You got people to safety.”

  “We worked together, but we at least two people on the way down.” Lukas ducked his head. “Lily Hostlan, and Kevin Pride. Both college students helping out. They were snatched.” He paused and paled as he turned away. “I was there. They pushed me out of the way. I should have been taken instead. I know others witnessed people being snatched. A child, Pippa, and another girl, Gail, was snatched up.”

  Taken? “What did you see?”

  The teenager didn’t respond.

  “Lukas, this is important. The more information we have about these creatures, the easier it will be for all of us. Anything you remember will help. A small detail could be enough to turn the tide for everyone.” Cora kept her voice low, calm and, she hoped, soothing. Kids weren’t her thing, but the teenager was old
enough to understand. “One of the things I have to do, in case no one else can do it, is send information back to the UTG.”

  He turned, eyes widening. “You think they might head for Earth? Shit, I hadn’t thought of that. And I wasn’t the only one who saw people taken. Jakob was with Gail, but Gail paused to grab one of the young ones, Pippa. Both were grabbed, and there was nothing we could do.”

  “I don’t know if they’ll head for Earth, but I can’t rule it out. None of us can. They’ve come this far, it would be foolish to assume they won’t attempt to strike the other colonies or hit Earth itself.” Had the other colonies been hit, or were they focusing on Pluto first? Three ships, or a large fleet which they wouldn’t stand a chance against? Too many questions and nowhere near enough answers. “Lukas, can you do this for me?” The other colonies. Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, the stations, Earth’s moon colony. Too many options and no answers to settle her mind.

  “I’ll try.”

  “It’s all I’m asking.”

  Silence settled over Lukas, and she watched him closely, searching for any signs of panic as the teenager gathered his thoughts. He sighed and leaned against the wall, shoulders slumped. “We were at a school event. A lot of us had bunched up away from family, you know, the whole boring being around your parents, right? Yeah, I guess you do. The first ground shake came without warning, then the alert rang out. The get to a safe underground location alert. I’d never heard it, outside of routine test runs, but we all knew what it was.”

  She didn’t speak, giving Lukas enough time and space to continue.

  “I think I was halfway to the exit when I realized what I was doing. We all moved away from the danger, then we ran. Panic hit next, I think. It’s where things become vague. I remember running, losing my friends for a time until there was a scream. More shakes, the buildings groaned, and a woman fell. I didn’t see if she got back up. Then the second alert sounded, dome breech.” He swallowed, his voice trembling. “I can’t remember who grabbed me, but there was a hand on my shoulder, and I was yanked back. I think the same person must have activated my emergency suit because I don’t remember doing it.”

  “You might have done it yourself, but it doesn’t matter. It worked, and you’re alive.”

  He nodded, eyes half closed. “Maybe.” He licked his bottom lip. “It’s all confusing for a time. It wasn’t a quick trip, between people waiting for the elevators and the rest of us making for the stairs, it was packed. Then the ones at the ‘vators remembered or realized they wouldn’t work in an emergency like this one, and joined the crush. We hurried, but we were mindless, acting on instinct, but I guess it’s why they run the drills, so our bodies know what to do even if our minds are elsewhere.”

  “Exactly, they do the same thing with the Marines. Lots of drills and exercises, especially during basic. Muscle memory.”

  “I remember being on the ground floor, then the doors into the rooster smashed open. Cries. Men, women, and children. Babies. Babies were screaming.” He opened his eyes, brow furrowed. “I don’t know how long it took for me to get to the ground floor, but there was a noise before the door blew in. It knocked people over. Several of them. Blood. Crushed bodies. It was like watching a holo, without the safety of it being entertainment. Am I making sense?”

  “Yes, you are.” What else could she say? Lukas had been through a lot, they all had, but unlike her and those others who worked for the UTG, he hadn’t been trained for the situations.

  “I wasn’t sure.” The frown deepened. “It was weird, a thing on four legs. Dark, mottled skin. It wasn’t alone. There was a thing with six limbs, standing on its hind legs. It wore a suit, at least, I think it was a suit. A layer above the skin, thick enough to deflect anything we tried to throw at them.”

  “You fought back?”

  “Kinda, we threw rubble at them before we made our way into the tunnels.”

  “Brave.”

  “Stupid, all it did was anger them. The six-limbed one grabbed one of the kids, and her mother ran to try and free it, lease I think she was the mother. But the creature grabbed her and stepped outside. Another took its place, grabbing for us, and we realized we couldn’t fight. A few of us did. We ran for it. A few of the adults stayed behind, I think there was at least one member of the Navy in the group. Maybe a Marine as well. Both wore uniforms, but it’s hazy. When the lights went out, we couldn’t tell who was a civilian and who was military.”

  “It will be, but you’re doing wonderfully.” Encouragement, the teen needed it, and they were being listened to. Six or more teenagers listened in, lingering close to Lukas. They wouldn’t be able to catch every word, but enough to know what was being said.

  “No, I’m missing a lot, and it’s not there, no matter how hard I push.”

  “Don’t push, let it come to you. Finish what you remember, the rest will return in time, and you can always add to it, find me and tell me what you missed, if anything.” Would resting a hand on his shoulder work? He was old enough to be in basic if a parent signed off on it.

  “Lily and Kevin were with me, I don’t know when they found me, but they were there. They’re both older than me, you know? Not that it matters now. They have to be dead.”

  “Maybe not, we’ve seen no bodies out there. No idea what the invaders want from us, or why they’re collecting survivors and the dead, but I’ve seen prisoners. I couldn’t get to them, not without being caught or killed, but there are prisoners.”

  Hope lit his features. “Which means Lily and Kevin could be prisoners?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, it’s something at least.” Relief eased the tension in his shoulders. “Anyway, we ran, squashed at times, but we kept together. Then the wall on the left collapsed. The aliens were there, right there. I hadn’t realized we were close to the outer walls, but we must have been because the rooster didn’t collapse. Kevin pushed me through a doorway, and I was a few steps from the escape hatch when I felt a hand. Claw. Whatever. It grabbed me by the shoulder.” He touched and rubbed the offending joint. “Still hurts there, ice cold no matter what I do. Thought I was dead when it had me, but Lily was there. She hit it, had a knife, though I don’t know where she got it from.”

  Knife? “Did she cut the alien?”

  “Yes, I think. There was fluid, purple, not red. Weird stuff, thicker than normal blood.”

  “Might not have been blood, but it tells us they can be injured.”

  “It howled, I think. I heard, experienced a sound, the vibrations. We hadn’t lost all atmosphere then, and with suits, in place, any communication was muffled. We weren’t thinking about using the comms.” Unconsciously he touched the side of his face where the comm link was implanted. “Lily kept slashing at it, then Kevin was with her, a staff, pole, whatever in hand. I couldn’t make it out. They pushed for me to run, to get through the hatch and I did. I got to it, halfway through, and looked back.” Tears shimmered in his eyes, and he blinked. “It had them. They were still alive, still fighting. The purple liquid had spread, and Lily was screaming.” His shoulders dropped. “I should have tried to help them.”

  “If you had, then their sacrifice would have been for nothing. You did what they wanted you to do. You got out in one piece.” She rested one hand on his shoulder, the touch gentle. “You were unarmed.”

  “They’re dead because of me.”

  “Or alive and prisoners. We’ll find out.” No matter how long it took, she’d find out what was going on, who these creatures were and what they wanted. Until then, she’d fight, hide, get the survivors out, then return to kick their purple blooded asses off her colony. “Don’t give in to the guilt trips. Focus on the positive, what you’ve done, what all of you have done. Not many have escaped, and found a safe place to hide.”

  “But how long will it remain safe?” He lifted his gaze. “They’re still out there, and we’ve no way of escaping off planet.”

  “Don’t be so sure. There will be shuttles if we ca
n get to them, we can get you and the rest of the group, off world.”

  “And the aliens? Their ships?”

  “Leave it to us.” Because I’ve no clue, but I’ll figure something out. “You made your way down here?”

  “Yeah, we kept closing hatches and airlocks behind us once we knew how many were in our group. A few of the adults wanted to go back out, find family members. You know?”

  “I understand why. It’s hard to leave people behind, doesn’t matter if it’s the safest thing for all concerned, we’re still torn between saving ourselves or saving those we love.” She squeezed his shoulder, then dropped her hand. “Anything else you can recall?”

  “They gave up after we were down two levels. I don’t know why, but they stopped trying to get past the doors, airlocks, or any other barriers.”

  Two levels. Useful to know, but only if they found it had been repeated elsewhere. “Useful to know, might be a reason, or they became distracted either way, it’s useful.”

  Lukas took a deep breath and glanced around. “The adults will want to talk with you. One of them will remember, soon enough, that you’re talking to a kid.” He rolled his eyes.

  “Thanks, Lukas. If there’s anyone else you think I should talk with, let me know.” It didn’t hurt to let the kid believe he was equal with the adults. In age, he wasn’t that much younger, and situations like this never only took age into account when there was a good reason. He’d done well and had been through more than enough for anyone to handle. “You’ve got this.” Any minute now she’d find a set of pom-poms, but hell, a little cheering didn’t do any harm, especially when she normally had to smack recruits into shape.

  He smiled, a soft pink touching his cheeks.

  Cora turned back to look on the group, spotting her people easily enough, except for Stone. Where had the man gone? Supplies, he’d mentioned them, hadn’t he? She scanned the room as she walked toward a knot of people.