“Yeah, nicely, provided we don’t get fried by the sun anytime soon!” Kurtis spat.
“Just get in, already, Kurtis,” Nadine scowled.
“How are you gonna get this behemoth on the expressway?” Kurtis returned Nadine’s glare.
J climbed into the driver’s seat and inserted the key into the ignition, “Well, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of active infrastructures left, so I don’t think there’s gonna be an issue with driving over a few signs!”
J turned the key, and the five-hundred horse-powered Duramax turbo diesel engine roared to life. The giant knobbed tires vibrated against the pavement as the engine rumbled.
“It’s got a quarter of a tank. Hopefully, that’ll be enough to get us downtown.”
Kurtis stepped to the right seat and climbed in behind Nadine, “Well, we better start getting to where we’re goin, then.”
Nadine closed the armored side door, buckled her harness, and held on to the support bar in front of her.
J looked over Nadine’s already white knuckles, “You expecting problems?”
“Yes… now just go, already!” Nadine exclaimed as she looked out her side window at the separating clouds.
J shut his door, buckled his seatbelt and pressed the clutch to the floor before placing the shifter into first gear.
“You ever driven one of these manual transmissions before?” Kurtis snapped.
“Sure, I have… really-really.”
J popped the clutch as he stepped on the gas. The Hummer lurched forward and crashed into a car. He gunned the gas and powered through two more cars with the military truck’s heavy bumper before driving out of the lot.
J sped toward the freeway onramp, “Smooth, ‘eh?”
“Yeah, that was real subtle-like, J,” Kurtis sneered, “Maybe next time you don’t try to wreck our wheels at the beginning of the test drive, okay?”
“Hey, ya’ have to test an’ verify your vehicle’s capabilities, right?” J gunned the gas pedal just before slamming his feet on the clutch and breaks, bringing the Hummer to a screeching halt.
Kurtis lunged forward against his shoulder strap and yelled, “Hey! What’s the matter with you?!”
A grin curled into the corner of J’s mouth before his foot hit the gas and he eased back into first gear, “BRAKE CHECK!”
“Yeah, real nice, J. Real nice!” Kurtis shouted.
“Hey, you never, really-really, know.”
“Well, just watch it! And, and maybe a warning next time, huh? I asked you a question, didn’t you hear me?”
Nadine turned in her front seat and pointed her stump in Kurtis’ face, “Sit back and zip it, Kurtis!”
“Okay, okay, jeez, don’t have to get hostile on me!”
Nadine turned forward and watched the sky as J rounded the freeway onramp.
“Don’t look now,” Nadine pointed to another break in the black smoke-filled sky, “We’re about to get fried by our sun again!”
J turned the Hummer hard right and then left again, dodging the beams that broke through the soot and smoke.
J shifted into high gear and rocketed up the freeway onramp. Intense beams burned through powerlines. The metal electrical towers softened under the intense radiation from the sun and they bent over in slow motion. Falling towers and power lines met and erupted into fireballs that dropped trails of molten metal along the pavement below.
J veered masterfully through the obstacle course as if driving a slalom for his life. His adrenalin rush brought up a slight amp charge, giving his eyes a soft green glow.
Nadine reached over with her right hand and touched J on the temple, “I-I think I can help you, J.”
As the two amped up, they emanated a shimmering golden glow.
“I’m tapped into a satellite feed. It’s live and I can see a map of our road. We shouldn’t have any more problems getting into the city now.”
Nadine closed her eyes and concentrated.
J glanced over at Nadine before looking forward at his path, “What are you sensing?”
“I don’t know. Something… hold on a sec.”
“Well,” J said, looking out his driver’s window at the sky, “This cloud cover is much thicker the farther into the city we go. I think that’s a good thing.”
“Yeah, that is a good thing, but that’s not what I’m worried about.”
Kurtis turned in his seat and looked out the back window, “Maybe it has something to do with him?” he pointed with a finger.
J glanced in his rearview mirror and then furrowed his brow, “Don’t look now, but I think Doctor Childress is on our tail again!”
“Crap!” Nadine spat, glancing at the rear seat floor, “We left the cables in the bag in our fried car!”
Kurtis grew a look of determination, “Well, if Nadine can self-amp, then I should be able to as well, without a multi-connect.”
Nadine leaned closer to Kurtis, “Touch my temples!”
“Ooooo, nice…”
“Knock it off and just do it, already!”
Kurtis reached up and put the first two fingers of each hand to Nadine’s temples and closed his eyes, “Now what?”
“I don’t know, Kurtis,” Nadine argued, “Just concentrate, how am I supposed to know?”
“He’s gaining,” J nodded, squeezing the steering wheel tighter. “His cycle is much more maneuverable than us.”
Kurtis squeezed his eyes tighter, pumping his adrenaline into Nadine’s chip, which in turn, traveled down her arm to where her fingers touched J’s temple, and flowed into his.
Nadine’s eyes glowed as she focused on the rear of the Hummer. Extending her stump toward their rear, she sent a power wave down her arm and began tossing the wrecked cars into the path of the pursuing speeder bike.
The cycle weaved violently left, out of the way of one moving object, and then right again to avoid another.
Nadine continued to shift the stalled cars to prevent the pursuing Childress from utilizing the satellite feed.
“We have the advantage, J,” Nadine spat in anger as she focused on sending as much debris in the cycle’s path with her amped mind. “Keep on going! Kurtis…”
Kurtis nodded as he opened his eyes and focused on the approaching cement overpass, “I’m workin’ on taking this bridge down on the good doctor… just… have… to hold… it… a little… longer…”
J floored the Hummer and downshifted a gear to accelerate. The engine roared as they passed under the bridge. Once clear, Kurtis let the bridge go with his mind.
The cement bridge cracked, crumbled, and fell onto the freeway. Car-sized chunks crashed down as Doctor Childress laid his bike into a controlled slide toward the fallen bridge. Even though he managed to raise a shield, slamming into the cement debris knocked the Doctor Childress clone out cold.
Kurtis slumped in his seat, releasing his hands from Nadine. Nadine fell back into her seat and drew a sigh of relief, “Well, that should take care of our little problem.”
“For now,” J nodded, “For now…”
J continued driving northbound on the freeway toward the heart of the city, dodging the abandoned and crashed cars that littered the freeway.
Chapter 5
Downtown Seattle
January 17, 2068 12:35
Lue stood on the edge of the building and studied the alien infestation below. Her companions continued to construct a barrier to block off the attacking force from the crashed Saratoga.
She ran over to Jim and lifted him upright, “C’mon! Wake up, already!”
Jim’s limp body felt heavy to her. She laid him back down and glanced over to where the alien creature was slowly reforming.
Lue ran to the rooftop door and tugged on it, only to discover it was locked. Luella closed her eyes and focused on unlocking the door. A spark shot from her fingertip into the locking mechanism. She swung the door open.
A horde of aliens swarmed up the staircase towards her.
Luella s
lammed the door and sent another spark into the lock, nearly depleting her amp charge. She turned from the locked door and scanned the ground nearby. Spotting a two-by-four, she grabbed it. She propped the board under the doorknob and she braced the other end on the roof.
“That ought to hold them for a little bit. I hope.”
Then she headed back to Jim. She picked up a section of pipe and swung the metal rod, hitting the reanimating alien’s head. The impact sent the regenerating alien back to the ground.
“C’mon, Jim!” Luella shook the dazed man before striking his face with the palm of her hand.
Her hand snapped across his cheek a second time, “Sorry, Jim…”
Jim fluttered his eyes open and lifted his head. Slowly, Jim’s eyes began to focus on Luella, “Where… where am I?”
“Jim, good, you’re coming to! Get up, get up!” Luella tugged on Jim’s arm, and the groggy man lurched forward. His head flopped onto Luella’s shoulder as he lost consciousness once more.
“Oh, man…” Luella groaned as Jim’s full weight drove her to the ground.
She grunted and groaned as she pushed him off of her. Once on her feet she tugged on the passed-out Jim.
“You’re not gonna make it easy, are ya’!”
Glancing over to the fallen alien, she saw the pool of alien matter extend toward them before it began raising a tentacle out the mass. The adrenaline rush from seeing the alien creature moving closer helped her diminished amp charge to rise within her.
She began to glow, the sparkling and shimmering energy, enveloping both herself and Jim. She lifted him by his arm and yanked him over her shoulder.
She ran with full speed, carrying Jim on her back, leaping off the roof top. The two flew through the air and came crashing down on the next roof. Luella rolled twice while Jim lay flat on his face.
She shook off the sting from the landing and made her way back to Jim.
“Sorry about that, Jim. I had to get us outta there!”
She rolled Jim over. He looked at her with bloodshot eyes, “Yea-yeah,” he grunted, “I’ll bet you’re some kind of sorry, alright,” he finished with a chuckle.
“Are you alright, Jim? The alien creature sprayed you as you were catching your breath.”
“I’m a little woozy,” Jim said, shaking his head, “I think it was that last self-amp charge that brought me out of the sleeping beauty mist.”
“We have to get out of this part of the city, Jim.”
“What happened to the others?”
“I jumped the building back to save your sorry ass and sent the others for help.”
“The last thing I remember, is seeing you leaping to the other rooftop,” Jim looked down and then back up into Lue’s eyes. “You came back for me?”
“Yeah, Jim. Call me a sucker for hard luck cases…”
Jim swatted at Lue, “Hard luck?”
“Yeah, that’s why I had to save your ass back there… twice now, if you’re keeping score, that is.”
“Yeah, very funny, Lue. I saved all your asses first.”
“Okay, but seriously now, can you walk?”
Jim braced against Luella as she helped him to his feet, “Yeah, yeah, I think so. Leg hurts mighty bad,” Jim groaned, limping twice on his right ankle. “I think I twisted it on the landing.”
Luella took his right arm around her left side and help him limp toward the exit.
Jim propped himself against the brick wall as Luella turned the knob on the door. It turned and popped open. She gently pulled the door open and peered down the staircase.
“It looks clear, Jim,” Luella whispered, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“After you,” Jim grimaced as he used the handrails to hobble down the steps.
Luella paused at the first landing to wait for Jim, “Two more flights. You doing okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m just peachy-keen fine, over here, Lue. Just abso-friggin-lootly fine.”
Jim’s left leg buckled on him, giving out on the last step, sending him tumbling down the flight of stairs, falling in a heap on the next landing.
Jim moaned as he laid still on his back for a moment.
“Jim!” Luella screamed as she jumped down the flight, landing by his side, “Oh my god, Jim!”
Jim started to chuckle as he laid sprawled out on the steps.
“What’s so funny? You could have broken your neck, damn it!”
Jim waved off his hysteria, “You should have seen your face when I fell.”
“Oh yeah, my face was pretty funny, was it?”
“Priceless,” Jim laughed.
Luella leaned close to Jim, took his face into her hands and kissed him passionately. She slid her arms around his neck as he pulled her close to him.
Her foot slipped off the step and kicked Jim’s sprained ankle, sending him lurching forward and biting Luella’s lip.
They both reeled in pain. Jim held his throbbing ankle and Luella rubbed her bleeding lower lip. Then they looked at each other and began laughing once more.
Luella held her hands up to his lips and quietly whispered, “Shhh… I thought I just heard something.”
“Yeah,” Jim whispered, “We’ve got to get out of this stairwell.”
Luella helped Jim to his left foot and the pair exited the landing to the floor they were on. They gently closed the stairwell door, checking that it didn’t lock to ensure they could return.
“It’s down the hallway,” Luella pointed, “I hear it.”
“What do you think it is, Lue?”
“I don’t know,” she grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall. “It sounds like paper rustling or something in one of those rooms.”
“I think it sounds more like scratching or gnawing.”
“Stay here. I’m gonna check it out.”
“Be careful, Lue!”
Lue crept toward the source of the noise, holding the fire extinguisher at the ready. She stopped at the door and noticed that it was ajar. Luella gently pushed the door open with her foot. She sneaked inside the room, the noise getting louder the further into the room she went.
In the corner of the room she noticed what looked like a body lying on the floor. Cautiously moving around a desk, she saw the legs of a man. Moving her gaze up his torso she screamed, then laughed. Three rats chewed on the dead man’s face.
“It’s okay, Jim,” Luella yelled, “It’s just some rats is all…”
“Rats?” Jim chuckled, “Is that all?”
Luella stepped out into the hall from the office, still holding the fire extinguisher, “Yeah, some pour sap inside. He’s been dead for a while now, but those critters don’t…”
Jim watched as the rat-infested corpse got off the floor and charged from inside the office, “Look out, Lue!” Jim shouted.
Instinct took over. Luella swung the fire extinguisher at the attacking creature. The heavy metal cylinder hit its jaw, spinning the creature’s head around and snapping bones. It fell to the floor.
“What the hell just happened!?” Luella shouted, “That thing,” she pointed to the floor, “It was dead and then attacks me!?”
The creature quivered on the floor. Luella held the fire extinguisher high over her head and crashed it down onto the rising creature. The creature’s skull fractured and split open as it once more lay still on the ground.
Luella ran from the hallway and rejoined with Jim, “We better leave… now!”
“I’m with you on that one, Lue.”
The two entered the stairwell and began descending the final flight.
“What the hell just happened back there, Jim?”
Jim hopped hurriedly down the stairs, “It must have been an alien infection. But something’s changed.”
“I don’t know about you, Jim,” Luella held her stomach and groaned, “but I don’t feel so well.”
“Yeah, I know. Neither do I.”
“What is it?”
“I think it’s radiation poisoning.”
“Yeah, I think there are pockets of radiation. We just passed through one.”
“Well, that might explain what we just saw back there.”
“It might, but nonetheless, we have to get to the others, and fast!”
Luella came to the exit and held her palm to it. She closed her eyes, concentrating on what was on the other side of the door.
“What are you sensing, Lue?” Jim asked, hopping down the last step.
“I hope nothing, Jim.”
Luella pushed open the door and peered each way before exiting, “All clear.”
“Great,” Jim hobbled out the door and let it slam behind him. “What’s next?”
“Well,” Luella began, creeping to the corner of the building, she poked her head around, “I see the alien barrier. It’s behind us. They’re beefing that up.”
Jim looked around the corner with Luella, “At least we’re on the right side of that.
Turning, Luella looked around at the buildings to ger her bearings.
“If we’re going to make our way through town to the crash site,” Jim said, “I think we’re gonna need weapons.”
“Yeah, I’ve got an idea,” Luella pointed across the street, “There’s a pawn shop. I bet we can find some in there.”
“Has anyone ever told you, you’re brilliant?”
“Yes, actually,” Luella smiled.
“Oh?”
“Yes, just now, in fact,” Luella laughed.
“Don’t get me started again,” Jim chuckled.
“Well, you said it, not me.”
Luella helped Jim cross the street as quickly as they could.
Once on the other side they ducked into the alley. Cautiously they scanned around to be sure they were in the clear.
“I don’t think they saw us, Lue.”
“Right, they’re too busy constructing that barrier.”
Jim limped on his foot around to the door of the pawn shop.
He looked one way and then the other before jamming his fist into the door glass. The breaking glass echoed down the street. Jim reached inside and unlocked the door, and they slipped inside.
Luella pulled the door closed with a click and headed to the front counter display.
AMP- Aftermath Page 4