The Natural Selection Retaliation

by Kyle Robertson

  “ANY TIME, PEOPLE! THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER!”

  Steve dropped his hand and his squad began to fire!

  The leopards caught a few rounds and were incapacitated quickly along with the cheetahs and jaguars. The Panthers and 2 lionesses saw the other shooters and attacked them! Marc and Nugget took them out from across the street about 200 meters back! Steve trained them well. The tigresses were more elusive and got past the bullet barrage! It was Alikira’s turn.

  She stepped out in front of Raheem and flamed on! The tigresses were severely redirected the other way by the flame and Snark took them both out with a well-placed D-18 round! The street was splattered with charred tigress bodyparts!

  The dogs saw the melee and decided not to participate. They left towards City Hall.

  “NOW THAT’S THE WAY TO FLANK AN ENEMY!” Steve yelled. “RALLY UP!”

  They all gathered around Steve.

  “Did you see those cat chunks? That D-18 is scary,” Marc said.

  “Good job on your first outing, people. It’s a little bit different than ceramic disk targets. Shooting with accuracy can get really messy at times.”

  “Hey, as long as it isn’t people I think we’ll be fine,” Snark said.

  “I’d take out a vengeful decrepit human before I’d shoot an animal doing their natural actions,” Raheem said. “We’re all animals, Snark. Humans are just the conniving vengeful ones who murder for fun.”

  “This is no time for a debate on morality. We need to get to Mickey’s. Lead the way, Raheem,” Steve quashed the volatile discussion before it started.

  Raheem took the lead and went cautiously to Mickey’s. He saw all the abandoned pizzerias along the streets.

  “Hey, Steve. Do spices go stale? I could put some Cyan pepper on those potatoes.” He pointed at Bonino’s.

  “We have one mission. Get the nonperishables from Mickey’s. Remember when Sledge bitched at you the last time we deviated from the mission? Stay on target, Raheem and we won’t have to explain another pointless death because you wanted Cyan pepper.”

  Raheem remembered he complained about Sledge making him look stupid. He did learn why and just forgot. He forged on.

  They walked past City Hall and turned down Warren.

  “We just have a few blocks before Mickey’s. Keep a lookout for scavengers. Fangs or teeth. That is if anyone has any left,” Raheem said. They all had their Devastators primed for extreme prejudice.

  “There’s the sign two blocks up. Okay, people, in and out. No marveling off of moldy pumpernickel.”

  They came to the building with the front display glass shattered.

  “I told you, Chip. Lockpicking would be unnecessary. Just don’t get cut when entering.”

  “Just use your new hand to clean out the shop window. That new titanium can’t be cut,” Chip told Steve.

  “You’re so lucky Linda’s calming my animal,” he said as he cleaned the shards from the shop window. “Because if you reminded me I lost my hand two weeks ago, I’d go ‘Beast Mode’ on a nerdy transiton.”

  “Every time I see Linda I tell her thank you. She has no idea why, but she’s been saving my hide for weeks now.”

  Steve smiled as he went into the back room. He punched in the 24 digit code and heard the click.

  “Open the crates and fill up. Raheem, you have lookout. Yell if anything comes. Let’s see if we can do this in fifteen—stock up!”

  They activated their auto-structural crates and they all went downstairs to see a treasure trove of nonperishables. They began.

  “Hey, Snark. There’s garlic powder, mustard seeds, and Cyan pepper. We didn’t have to go to Bonino’s after all!”

  “There are even cans of hash, freeze-dried corn beef and cans of corn. We hit the motherlode.” Snark was happy she didn’t have to munch on pinto beans with no flavor. She was Portuguese. Flavor was in her blood.

  They filled the crates with more than just chili, jerky, and tuna. There were powdered eggs and milk packet containers. Mickey’s was very busy for breakfast, so they enhanced their food quantity with them.

  “They have powdered shakes, Steve. Just add water. I bet they’re creamy,” Clarence said.

  “Load until you can’t carry anymore, People. We’re not comin’ back.”

  “Load until there is no more to load!” Alikira yelled. “I’ll carry it all!”

  “I knew I asked you guys to come for a reason,” Steve told Chip.

  They took 20 minutes to fill the crates. They didn’t know they would get so much.

  Alikira picked up the first crate and took it upstairs.

  “I think we need to get some tension straps so she won’t have to balance three crates on the way back to the Yamato.” Chip said as Alikira called down.

  “Stand down, fellas! We got company!”

  Steve and Chip were shocked.

  “Why didn’t Raheem say anything?!”

  “I don’t know, but since Di yelled to stand down, there must be a reason.”

  “Everybody, stay back,” Steve whispered. “Me and Transaton’ll see if it’s clear.”

  As they stealthily walked up the stairs, Chip whispered.

  “You know I’m a nerd, right? That’s what transiton means.”

  “Oh wah. My pussy hurts,” Steve whispered back. “Time to get hardcore, Transiton.”

  As they came through the door, they saw a group of human scavengers with a spear to Raheem’s neck.

  “We are silent. He didn’t signal, because he didn’t know,” the leader said. Then he let Raheem up to join the two shocked Neo-Khaos.

  “What do you want?!” Steve asked aggressively.

  “Our people were starving. We tried to get into storage, but it was locked. You just did three amazing things. You trained a borgey, gained access to the storage room, and killed the night breed terrorizing us for years.”

  “I think he’s talking about the big cat brigade,” Chip said.

  “Di’s not a borgey and we didn’t train her! She’s part of the team which killed your so-called ‘night breed’. We were sent to get this food—it’s ours! Sorry to rain on your parade. Pal, but assault rifles beat spears any day!”

  Alikira put up her hands quickly.

  “You have to forgive him. Steve leads our squad and he’s inherently a conclusion jumper. Although, your borgey comment and the spear to Raheem’s neck made him jump,” she began and turned to Steve. “They aren’t renegades, Steve, they’re survivors. Don’t mix a scavenger with the word ‘bad’. In this world, they aren’t synonymous with each other. They saw your team take out the night breed without a problem. Those cats kidnapped and ate their babies. They don’t want to fight the night breed killers with spears. They’re just hungry and want to negotiate.”

  Steve was a jaded soul in the wastelands. He had to halt his shoot first policy in certain situations.

  “What’s your name, Leader?”

  “I go by Purge. I heard there’s a lot of nonperishables down there.”

  “You heard correctly, why?”

  “I heard it’s more than you can take back in one trip.”

  “Di can do it. She’s not a borgey, but she has borgey strength.”

  “I can lift a truck, but if it’s not solid, I’d have trouble,” Alikira said.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Steve said… Chip interrupted him.

  “Yes. Three cates full of nonperishables can be awkward. What do you propose?”

  “Well, some of us hate this place. Especially Cindy with her lost baby. Some of my people won’t leave Manhattan. Call it tribal. Here’s the deal. If you leave a crate for my stubborn people. We’ll carry the other crate’s contents when we join you. Call it a quid pro quo.”

  “That means to give a little, you get a little,” Chip said.

  “I know what quid pro quo means, Transition, shut up!”

  Chip was trying to help with the negotiations, but Steve was fine.

  “Who’s taking yo
ur place, Purge?”

  My second in command, Subroc. He said something about being a ‘True Yankee’. I have no idea, but Subroc’s loyal.”

  Steve thought about it.

  “Well, Sledge did say we needed to gather survivors and we’re about to battle the Program… How many of you are coming?”

  “Forty-six of us. Should I call for the rest?”

  “Call for them and let’s blow this place. I don’t want any more problems,”

  Purge split up his team. Half grabbed the items in the crate and the rest left to inform everyone the negotiations went well.

  “Okay, Di. You can bring the downstairs crate and I’ll introduce our new recruits,” Steve said and went downstairs.

  The new ones were surprising to his marksmen, but it all worked smoothly. They worked quickly with the transfer and his other team said farewell to Purge.

  Sledge was surprised to see more people, but this was New York. The more, the marrier.

  While on the Yamato, Alikira retrieved her surveillance albatross from its Baltimore long range scan, downloaded the information and became disturbed.

  “What did you see?” Carlos asked.

  “I saw the headquarters and about three hundred nanite controlled zombie guards on mega-armor patrolling the area. I can’t dismantle it if I can’t reach it.”

  “Okay, Di. I’m pulling my ace. I used to fly with a transiton. Chip should like him, but he lives in Halifax Canada.

  “What’s his name and what does he specialize in?”

  “Jean-Renae LeBeau and he’s a bio-augmenter. He can manipulate moose, Timberwolves, Bobcats, wolverines, and bears. He used nature’s muscle as a defense. They can take out three hundred mga-armored zombies.”

  “Okay, let’s make a heading for Halifax. I heard it’s cold in Canada.

  “You’re from Australia. Everywhere north of the equator is cold to you.”

  Chapter Six: The Canuk

  Sledge was working out with Kathrine. They were passing Gaia’s old stomping grounds headed for Halifax.

  “What do you think of the new survivors?” she asked him while stretching out his back.

  “I thought Steve had that loyalty thing going, but Purge’s people are cult-like. That Cindy girl worships him. I guess I’m fine with a radical asset when we go up against the Program, but his methods seem scary.”

  “He’s not disciplined. Living in New York made him that way. He’s a defense master. I don’t think he’s ever attacked anything. His people worship him because he kept them alive. He probably won’t fight, but he will die to protect his people. In his mind, we just need to be ‘his’ people. Keep my spine arched while I bridge.”

  Sledge sat across from Kathrine and put his knees in her back arch.

  “How are you seventy-one kilos and as limber as a gymnast?” Sledge marveled at her individual leg-lifting bend.

  “I’m five eight and you have to be flexible when you train. How tall am I in metric?”

  “About a hundred seventy-two centimeters.”

  “And you?”

  “One ninety-three, why?”

  “Gimme a sec. I’m trying to get this right.” She tried to calculate.

  “You’re six three?”

  “Close, Kat, six four. It’ll take a while to get it down.”

  “Can you leg press seventy-one kilos?”

  “The question is how many times,” he said.

  She put her hands and feet on the mat to arch over his knees so he could get into a leg press position.

  “Impress me and press me fifty times.”

  The challenge was on, so he put his feet in the small of her back.

  “Ready, Kat?”

  “Execute your mission, Soldier.”

  Sledge began to press her.

  “Wow, lady, you are solid!”

  “Are you lifting me with one leg?” she asked.

  “It’s my rep regiment,” he said. “Twenty-five on the left, twenty-five on the right.”

  “So, seventy-one kilos is what you do on a daily basis,” she assumed.

  “That’s my rep regiment, Kat. I normally press one ten for five sets.”

  “Well, I don’t want to screw-up your leg day.”

  “My leg days are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I’m pressing you today to lighten you up. I’m learning and it’s nice to have a workout partner.”

  “You think I’m ‘sandpaper’ rough around the edges, don’t you?”

  “I’ve seen razor wire smoother than you,” he said.

  “Finish your reps, Sledge. I work very rough, but when we’re done, I’ll show you I play with silky smoothness.”

  Sledge smiled as he switched legs. He might have just broken her shell this time.

  

  Snark was ranging her B-14 for maximum effectiveness. The ceramic trainer disks were set up for thirty-second interval launchings to let her fine-tune her aim.

  Purge watched her. She was taking them out with ease.

  “You shoot like a homegirl. What’s your name?”

  She stopped and looked at Purge.

  “Call me Snark.”

  “No, your real name. Snark must be your nickname.”

  “Everybody calls me Snark. Why do you want to know my real name, Purge?” she asked while continuing her calibration.

  “I’m Wallace. Purge was what they called me when I kept my people alive through any means necessary. I’m Wally Turnbol, and you?”

  “You only get to hear this once, Wally. After you know, call me Snark,” she said. “My real name is Qiana Coderio. I don’t even know why I told you. Snark sounds better.”

  “As a soldier, yes. As a beautiful woman, no.”

  She stopped firing and looked at him.

  “What’s your game, Wally? Is this a ‘New York’ thing? Are you trying to ‘talk’ to me?”

  “I was a homeless unimportant person in New York before the extinction. I had no respect, power, or confidence dumpster diving for my next meal. After the powerful instantly died, my power shifted. Survival was way more important than money. You couldn’t eat credit cards or paper money to survive. That was when I became important.

  A beautiful woman wouldn’t look at me or give me the time of day back then. I just hope my situation has become different now.”

  Shark thought about it.

  “So, you’re not the ‘slick talkin’ New Yorker I’ve heard about?”

  “You need practice and interaction to hone that skill. Unfortunately, I had neither of those,” he said.

  “That’s why you’re so bad at it,” she joked. “No, seriously, you wanted to try with me, but you don’t even know if I’m single.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m new at this. Your beauty took over my rationalization to see if you were with someone.”

  “Calm down, Wally. I’m single.” She smiled. “Nobody here wants a woman who could shoot a fly off a shot glass from two hundred paces and not disturb the shot glass. You don’t look homeless, but I guess that’s been the stereotype for years. Ya ain’t half bad and it’s not like there’s that many fish in the sea. At this point, filling a fishbowl would be tough. I’m not saying ‘take me’ just yet. I’m from Portugal, so tell me about New York, so ‘we’ can talk.”

  Purge actually got past step one. Now it was time to talk. Being from New York, did he have many stories.

  

  “These new survivors are different,” Gaia said. “And I can’t work with those instant pot noodle containers.”

  “New Yorkers are used to living a fast lifestyle, so when they’ve been forced to suddenly slow down, they break down. You don’t have to do anything with those instant pot noodles. All they have to do is add heated water,” Chip said. “Those things can give you a break from the three meals a day regiment you’ve slaved yourself with.”

  “I like to cook,” she said. “But pot noo
dles, do-it-yourself corn beef hash, and tuna would give my staff a break.”

  “Carlos said we should be close to Bangor about now. Do you miss it?”

  “I miss the old world, Chip. I probably wouldn’t even recognize any city in Maine right now. If we would visit my hometown, I’d be the foreigner in more than just appearance.”

  “You haven’t been there in years. There must be your ‘secret’ space somewhere.”

  “The Program exposed all my secrets, Chip. This world is very different now. I hated computers because my big brother liked them. I was worrying about cookbooks and teen girly things before everyone was executed right in front of my face. I caught the last evacuation flight from Bangor before the Program hijacked all communications. I ended up in Hong Kong. A place I’ve never seen before. Sledge was the self-professed teen camp counselor and took me from the airport just as the lights went out. I was lucky.”

  “You got away before the Program could break every transport’s communication’s digital security. Something we thought was impregnable was broken in three days. You’re lucky the security wasn’t taken over when you were crossing the ocean.”

  “At that point, if I crashed in the Atlantic, I wouldn’t have cared. Everyone I knew was dead. My outlook wasn’t very favorable at that time.”

  He kissed her.

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t die. I’m really happy I met you in this harsh dead world. We can get through this together. Di’s determined to right humanity’s ship. I wanna sail with you.” He smiled at her.

  Alikira interrupted their sweet moment by knocking on the door.

  Chip got up to answer.

  “Hi, Di, what’s up?”

  “I need your distance range calculation program to put into my albatross.

  It can scan the headquarters at a safe distance, but it can’t count the undead guards patrolling accurately. Carlos said his friend needs to know how many we’re going up against to know how many animals to use.”

  “What animals are we talking about?”

  “Bears, wolves, wolverines, Bobcats, and moose, the arctic Special Forces.”

  “Who is this guy, The Wilderness Wrangler?”