Deadeye- Episode II

by David Rex Bonnewell

  Just then, another stone hit the opposite side of the turret and yet another whizzed past his ear. He desperately wished he had his time-slowing ability to fall back on, or at least his traveling companions to pitch in. He thought then of an old idiom his mother used to say often when he was a child: If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets. She had told him it came from a late twentieth century science fiction picture book and judging by the strangeness of it, he had no reason to doubt her. He had a scant few fond memories of his mother and even fewer of his father and this particular memory was interrupted by several more near misses from flying stones.

  The thought of losing his love, Tilly, was normally the catalyst for his unique abilities, bolstering his courage in dangerous situations. Now that those abilities were failing him, however, he felt uncertain, vulnerable and angry. That, combined with once distant memories of his parents now bubbling to the surface, caused him to suddenly abandon all vigilance for a time and to feel a surge of pure rage. Without hesitation, he turned to the nearest outlet for that rage. He slammed his left hand down hard on top of the machine gun to steady it as he wrapped his right hand tightly around it's grip and pressed firmly in on the trigger. He guided the massive weapon in a continuous three hundred-sixty degree arc, roaring in exasperation the entire time and keeping the trigger pulled tight, not caring at that moment who or what got caught in the unbroken stream of arcing deadly bullets.

  When the dust settled, Daverex took another look at the distant landscape with his visor binoculars. Two dozen or so bodies littered the ground in a spread pattern some distance ahead. They did not move, and for the next ten seconds, he believed them to be dead. But then all but a few quickly arose at exactly the same time and immediately began scurrying towards him like ravenous rats. He zoomed in far enough to see some of them in greater detail. Their flesh was in various states of decay and missing altogether in some areas. “Oh great, a platoon of swift sentient space zombies. My day just keeps getting brighter,” he said under his breath. He had no real proof that they were zombies, of course, since such abominations were supposed to be fictional, but no other name for them came to his poison fog-affected mind. Plus, he reasoned, the few who did not rise he must have managed to shoot in the head, which, as every horror fan knows, is the only way to put down a zombie for good.

  Daverex looked next at the small undead army's clothing. Most were reduced to tattered rags, but some he identified as tan denim overalls, the same farmworker clothing worn by all Reavers of Facility One. Despite all logic – and perhaps because he was in no condition to think logically – he now believed there was some truth to what Danival's son said about a lich taking up residence in the Cave of Sorrows and that these poor souls were the perimeter defense of the powerful undead necromancer's main army.

  Daverex disconnected his binoculars and aimed the bulky machine gun as carefully toward the line of scurrying corpses as he could without the aid of his time-slowing ability. He tightened his finger on the trigger and watched with disturbing glee as one by one the corpses crumbled to the ground under the onslaught of spraying high-caliber bullets. Clearly, the poison fog was meant to make their work of eliminating intruders a simple affair, but the lich did not count on Daverex wearing a high-tech environmental suit or riding in an armored vehicle with a sizable military grade automatic weapon.

  Only one of the undead arose a second time. It was much closer to Daverex now. It leapt up onto the hood of the dune buggy, its head lowered as it made certain of its footing. Daverex drew his deadly laser pistol from its boot holster and aimed it at the determined thing's head. The creature slowly looked up at Daverex and seemed to smile affectionately at the stunned hero. He thought he saw something very different about this one, something unique enough to cause him to hesitate pulling the trigger despite his sworn determination never to hesitate shooting in the face of danger. He shook his head violently and then squinted against the density of the lingering fog, trying to make sense of what he saw, trying desperately to break what surely must have been an illusion of his affected mind.

  What Daverex saw looking up at him with a smile that could soften the darkest heart – what he saw silently pleading with him for mercy with eyes as kind as he had ever known – was the partially rotting face of Sister Tillage. He froze completely. In a dream, your mind fills in gaps in an attempt to make sense of the story. Daverex wondered how much of what he had experienced since being enshrouded by the mysterious fog was actually real and how much of it was simply his affected mind trying to fill in gaps. Indeed he questioned whether any of it was real. Then he felt the corpse's left hand knock his laser pistol to the ground as its right hand tightened around his neck and he knew that much was real.

  The corpse no longer looked anything like Tilly, Daverex realized as he gasped for breath. The corpse's face was now clearly male and only inches from his own face. The putrid stench of its fevered exhales brought him at least temporarily back to reality. It's badly decayed muscles belied its considerable strength, which must have been enhanced by the lich's own power. As his face turned a bright red, he grabbed at the thing's wrist with both hands and pulled with all his dying stamina. Gradually, the thing's arm began to separate from its wrist with a sickening series of snaps. Its severed right hand fell away from his neck as it delivered a powerful blow to his jaw with its left despite the protection provided by his helmet. His head snapped sideways and he staggered several steps back, falling backward over the turret and landing hard on the unconscious Aegis before then landing hard on the ground.

  The corpse was on top of Daverex in an instant, trying fiercely to tear through his tear-proof environmental suit with the long, hard nails of its remaining hand. He tried desperately to push it off of him, but his strength was quickly leaving him. Luckily for him, however, it was too enraged to figure out how to properly remove the suit. It switched instead to grasping the front of his helmet and slamming his head onto the ground until he stopped resisting altogether. Then it proceeded to choke the life out of him again.

  Daverex forced a final, single, strangled cough. Exhausted, he gave into the beckoning call of eternal darkness. He closed his eyes and then remained deathly still.

  * * *

  The undead thing's body slumped on top of Daverex and he coughed and gasped for breath. The thing remained as deathly still as Daverex had just a moment before, only it truly was dead. The thing was pushed off of him and he struggled, with vision blurred by temporary asphyxiation, to make out who the pusher was. The mysterious savior bent down low and extended a hand towards him and then he could see it was Aegis! Daverex gratefully grabbed onto his hand and was gradually lifted to a standing position.

  Aegis withdrew the switchblade knife he had plunged into the back of the undead's skull and wiped its brain matter off of the blade with a piece of cloth. Daverex said “Thank Yooo,” trailing off as he hunched over and dry heaved several times. He then rubbed his painfully sore throat. Aegis patted him on his back and then floated his hands over his chest, throat and head. Daverex could feel his healing energy course through him and soon was feeling his old self again. He reached into a pouch on his environmental suit and pulled out three more highly caffeinated power bars. He handed them to Aegis and said, “Eat one and give one each to Fracas and Danival when they come to. It should help stave off the effects of the poison fog.”

  Aegis ate the power bar as Daverex looked around on the ground for his laser pistol. When he found it, he picked it up, holstered it and said, “We have to wake the others and drive out of this poison fog before it overtakes us again. You wake. I'll get this thing started. Aegis nodded and whipped around to the passenger side to save his brother first as Daverex went to the driver's side, leaned through the opening and lifted Danival's thumb to the starter button. He waited anxiously for Thunderclap's computer to recognize its owner's unique thumbprint. Aegis then waved his hands over Fracas's face several times and he finally came to with a deep, loud intake of bre
ath and a panicked look on his face. Aegis cradled his brother's head in his arms and wept until Fracas remembered where he was and patted his brother's arm reassuringly.

  Meanwhile, the computer finally recognized Danival's thumbprint and Daverex pushed the starter button with Danival's thumb, praying to whoever would listen that the engine would start. It sputtered and then died. Aegis leaned over his brother and waved his hands over Danival's face as Daverex tried again to start the engine. He saw that Aegis had failed his first attempt at awakening Danival from his coma. Aegis was shaking his head violently, trying desperately to fight off the powerful effects of the poison fog as he tried again to save Danival.

  “Come on, you son of a bitch! Start!” Daverex said as he pressed Danival's thumb onto the starter button again, harder and longer this time. Finally, the engine started and Daverex said, “Yes!”

  “Congrats. Can I have mah thumb back now?”

  Daverex looked over to see Danival grinning at him. Daverex grinned back and pulled away from Danival's thumb. Danival shook off the numbness he felt in his thumb and Daverex returned to his position behind the machine gun as Aegis took his place in the makeshift rear seat. As everyone got settled and strapped in, Danival yelled, “Upward 'n onward!” More quietly, he said, “Sandra, play Danival's mix number one.” A moment later, a sultry female voice came from the speakers saying, “Playing Danival's mix number one.” Another moment later Willie Nelson's On The Road Again blared from the speakers. Danival sped away from the poison fog and towards the Cave of Sorrows.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A fter a bit more driving, which was thankfully uneventful, the team reached their destination. The Cave of Sorrows loomed before them. Well, not so much loomed as subtly suggested its presence. They all somehow imagined that a cave of such notoriety would be a natural imposing fortress that seemed to touch the sky, when in fact what greeted them (except for Aegis, who was seated at the rear of the vehicle) was not much taller than they were. Still, they all suspected that the most trying part of their journey awaited them somewhere very deep within.

  Danival parked the vehicle behind a large boulder. After they all exited the vehicle, he pulled out four pairs of night vision goggles from a compartment under the dashboard. He handed one to each of the twins, saying, “I do a bit o' night safari wit da tourists from time ta time 'n dese puppies come in handy. I figure dey'll come in handy in da cave too.” He handed one to Daverex.

  “No thanks,” said Daverex, tapping at his visor. “Got my own built into my helmet.”

  “O' course ya do,” Danival said as he put the spare pair of night vision goggles back into the compartment. Then he said to everyone, “We bettah hide Thunderclap. De last ting we need is ta 'ave our only way back stolen by some wanderin' scavengers.”

  “I actually have the means to teleport all of us back with a stone,” said Daverex.

  Danival looked at Daverex strangely and said, “A stone? Sure. Why da blazes not? I seen stranger tings in my time. But dar ain't no way I'm lettin' some magic stone get me home. Humor me 'n help me gather up 'nough bramble ta cover da ting I intend ta go back home in, eh?” Then he looked at Aegis and Fracas and said, “Dat goes fer strong 'n stronger too. Come on.”

  They all started looking for nearby bramble.

  “Stay away from any large patches of bramble though,” said Daverex. “You may regret it.”

  Danival looked puzzled at Daverex.

  “Just trust me on this one.”

  The twins nodded solemnly.

  Danival shrugged his shoulders and the team spread out to look for loose bramble. Once they brought back enough to thoroughly hide Thunderclap, they gathered up their weapons and walked towards the cave. “This is it, fellas,” Daverex said as he turned on the night vision optics of his helmet with the control pad on his wrist. “Stay close and be ready for anything in there.” The others turned on their night vision goggles and they entered into a low, but wide space that extended beyond the reach of their vision. The light from the cave's only entrance did not extend far into the cave. Danival took point so that he could keep his eyes peeled for traps. The twins walked side by side in the center and Danival took up the rear position. In this way, all angles were covered should something or someone attack them unseen.

  The origins of the massive cave's name became clear soon after entering it. A constant, chilling wind blew through the cave entrance, making a sound not unlike a low, wailing moan and bringing with it the prevailing stench of death and decay.

  Along the left wall, about a quarter of the way into the cave, Danival noticed a gap just wide enough for a person to get through sideways. “Wait here,” he told the others before carefully slipping through the gap. A moment later, he said, “Get in 'ere, Daverex. Yer gonna want ta see this.

  Daverex slipped through the gap and entered a small alcove. Inside stood Danival looking at a locked cage used to transport animals. Inside that cage sat Sister “Tilly” Tillage, Gaston “Gassy” Melchor and Ms. Talma Greene, all looking hungry, weak and confused, but very much alive.

  “Tilly! Gaston! Ms. Greene!”

  Sister Tillage didn't say a word. She simply stood up, reached her slender arms through cage door slots, grabbed Daverex's arms and pulled him to her. Then they kissed until no words were needed.

  “Newell, is that you? Where the hell am I? Is this your doing?” said Ms. Greene

  “Daverex? I would say I'm glad to see you, but it's so dark in here and I can't see a damn thing! I could really use a drink,” said Gaston.

  Daverex gently pulled away from Sister Tillage and said, “It's me. A friend of mine is here with me. His name is Dan Danival.”

  “Nice to sort of meet you, Dan,” said Gaston. “It's a shame it couldn't be under better circumstances.”

  “A'yup,” said Danival.

  “I promise you, I'm not responsible for this,” said Daverex. “You were all locked in here while a hideous creature I call a dead ringer – a sort of doppelganger – assumed your forms and then mimicked you to try and trick me into retrieving an artifact for it. That's about as simple an explanation as I can offer.”

  “That sounds preposterous, Newell,” said Ms. Greene.

  “I have to disagree with you, Ms. Greene,” said Gaston. “I do recall the last thing I saw being a hideous creature.”

  “Whatever the case, get us out of here and we can discuss this further later,” said Ms. Greene.

  “Yes, please. I would like very much to get back to The Grove. I do not like it here,” said Sister Tillage.

  “I can let you all out of the cage, but none of you will make it back alive outside this cave. I have a way to get you all back safely, but I have something important to do here first. Please, trust me.”

  “I love you and trust you,” said Sister Tillage.

  “I love you too, Tilly.”

  “You know I trust you, Daverex,” said Gaston with a weak smile.

  “I know, old buddy.”

  “I reserve judgement,” said Ms. Greene with a stern look of skepticism.

  “Fair enough. Okay, get back everyone. I'm going to shoot the lock off.”

  Everyone in the cage scooted back to the opposite end of the cage and then Daverex aimed his laser pistol at the cage's combination padlock and fired. The padlock shattered into several pieces and the cage door swung open. Then Sister Tillage, Gaston and Ms. Greene scooted out of the cage and stretched out the many hours they spent unable to stand.

  “Danival, give these good people some water, please,” Daverex said as he removed some power bars from a pouch on his suit and them to Gaston and Ms. Greene.

  Danival handed his canteen of water to Ms. Greene as he said, “Here, ma'am” with a smile.

  Ms. Greene unscrewed the cap of the canteen, sniffed at its contents and took a tentative sip. Then she took several gulps and handed the canteen to Sister Tillage.

  Sister Tillage took several sips from the canteen, being used to conservat
ion, and handed it to Gaston. “Thank you, miss.”

  Ms. Greene opened a power bar and took a bite. “Now what?”

  “Walk around and get the kinks out. Get some fresh air and sunlight near the cave entrance, but stay there until we come back.”

  Ms. Greene shrugged and said, “Fine.”

  “Come on,” said Daverex as he led the others single file out of the alcove and into the cave's first room. There was just enough light for Gaston and Ms. Greene to be startled by the imposing sight of Aegis and Fracas standing by the entrance to the alcove.

  Daverex made the proper introductions and Sister Tillage, Gaston and Ms. Greene were put at ease.

  “We'll be back as soon as possible. I promise,” said Daverex as he, Danival and the twins moved on ahead and Gaston and Ms. Greene walked over to the inviting sunshine at the cave's entrance. Sister Tillage sprinted towards the sunshine ahead of the other two, twirling around and smiling as she basked in its warmth.

  “Be careful in here,” Gaston called out. Sister Tillage nodded sternly her agreement with the sentiment.

  Daverex gave Gaston and Sister Tillage a thumb up and he and his group did not move forward a dozen steps before Danival whispered, “Hold!” They all stopped immediately in their tracks. Danival bent down and studied the ground. “Blood stains,” he said. Then he pointed his rifle at five separate areas of the ground, indicating to the others where each of the blood-stained areas were. He tapped the muzzle of his rifle firmly on the center of the nearest blood stain. A square section of the ground then shot up into the air and smashed into the ceiling, creating a pillar of solid rock. Everyone leaned back, caught off guard by the speed and force of the rock pillar. A few seconds later, the pillar came plummeting down and settled into the earth, forming a natural-looking section of stone floor once again.