Damnation

by Ken Barrett

  “Maybe we should shout, and see if anyone answers?”

  “No. You’ve made enough noise already,” she replied as they started down the ramp to level seven. “If anyone is here, they’ve already heard us.”

  Descending into the shelter felt like walking through an ancient tomb; ghosts seemed to lurk within the shadows as their light footsteps softly echoed through the stone structure. Rose was right; if anyone was still around, their presence was known. Someone was probably watching them, but even with his enhanced vision, he saw nothing.

  “The Scarred Faithful probably took everyone that passed their tests with them when they left,” Rose said.

  He could tell by the slight waver in her voice that she was nervous. “Yeah,” he whispered. “Maybe some in the Resistance hid, or they might have escaped outside and then come back later. Remember, the outer hatch was open, so it’s possible.”

  The ramp delivered them to the edge of the open area of the Command Center, where he and his sister had been tested by branding. The chains that had secured them to the floor were still there, they were a reminder of the brutality that had occurred in this place. Once again, he pondered the kind of creature that could take pleasure from such savagery. Did such a being deserve to live? No, but ending their lives would make him just as evil as they were.

  A sudden quick movement at the periphery of his vision caught his attention, and he turned to look but saw nothing. “We have visitors,” he whispered, and his sister nodded.

  “We could be walking into a trap if we go lower,” Rose mumbled.

  “Who are you?” Liam asked in a loud voice, but there was no response.

  “Rose, keep your rifle ready. We’ll have to go lower to get their attention,” he whispered.

  “Just one more floor, then if no one shows up, we’ll leave,” Rose said loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

  “We may already be boxed in,” Liam said as they walked toward the ramp that would lead them down to the cells on level eight. “The western shaft has an exit above us on level six. They could be moving in behind us right now.”

  “I guess we’ll see how well these rifles work with the modifications you made.” Rose turned the corner and marched down the ramp to the next level.

  He sighed as he followed, hoping that his work would not be used to cause more death and destruction. They were met by a silent and empty floor at the bottom of the ramp, and he smiled with temporary relief. “Ok!” he shouted. “We’re here, and you probably know who we are. If you want to be friends, come out now, otherwise, we’ll leave.”

  “My brother and I came all this way because we thought you might be in trouble and needed help,” Rose stated. “But as Liam said, if you don’t want us here, we’ll just go back home.”

  Whispers hissed through the darkened hallways and slowly grew into rumbling murmurs. Shadows wavered deep within the narrow aisles and yet, those watching said nothing. He moved close to his sister, and they pressed their backs together. They held their weapons ready, prepared to counter an attack.

  At last, a lone dark figure coalesced in a gloomy corridor and slowly approached.

  Liam held his weapon low, not wanting to endanger a possible accord with a threat of violence. He waited and watched intently, then, breathed a long sigh of relief as a young man of Asian descent stepped into the open area near the ramp. “Hi Tiger. You’ve grown quite a bit.”

  The young man kept his distance and smiled uncertainly. “Where have you guys been? What happened to you?”

  “We were put on trial by the priests and found guilty, then thrown outside.” Liam squinted, focusing on a smaller figure coming up behind Tiger.

  “The priests said that you abandoned us and weren’t coming back,” the young man stated. “A lot of us thought you were dead.”

  “That was just propaganda, we’d never do that.” Rose had turned to face their young friend. “Is that Alice behind you?”

  “Indeed,” the young woman said. She had an air of confidence that could only come from wisdom gained by experience. “Were you both dead, then brought back to life?”

  “No,” Rose replied. “Roxi tricked the priests and helped us escape. Is she still here?”

  “Yes and no,” Alice replied cryptically. “You’ll probably see her later.”

  “What about your family, are they ok?” Rose asked.

  “Yes. Mama and Papa are just fine.” She turned to face those still hidden in the darkened hallways. “It’s ok everybody, they’re not ghosts after all.”

  His sister stood silently for a moment, nervously biting her lip. “Are Keith and Denise here? What about their baby?”

  “We’ll catch up over dinner, if you’ll sup with us that is,” the young woman replied.

  *****

  The familiar clatter of plates, utensils, and dinner trays echoed through the crowded cafeteria on level twelve. Around them, once hostile faces had become friendly and welcoming, and all were asking questions about the world above ground. Was it safe? Could they live out there too? What did they eat? Where did they find shelter?

  Liam and Rose were bracketed by Tiger and Alice, and across the table, her parents, Patrick and Kelly eagerly listened to the answers they gave. While most of what they said was accepted enthusiastically, many were concerned about the bears, wolves, and big cats that had taken precedence.

  A cache of seeds had been kept safe in the hydroponic storage areas, and many of the farmers were eager to leave the shelter and restart their old lives. A debate began when a group of former members of the Tribal Army argued that the Scarred Faithful was too dangerous. No one wanted to even pretend to join the cult, and several people suggested finding a place of refuge far away to the north or west, where no one would find them.

  “Beliefs like Adar’s always spread,” Rose stated. “They’re like cancer, feeding on what’s healthy to stay alive. You may find a safe haven now, but you’ll have to move again later.”

  Liam raised his hands before the squabble could continue. “Hold on. Before we talk anymore, Rose and I need to know what happened here. How did you guys survive? And most importantly, will the Scarred Faithful come back?”

  “Ah, well, that’s a long and nasty tale,” Patrick began. “And far too tangled for this old man to unravel, but I’ll just blather on a bit and hope it’s good enough.

  “Their bloody army showed up here about a month after you two was gone. A fearsome thing it was; hideous folk with skin like leather all covered with brands, and heavily armed they was too. They carried lasers from the Socialists and railguns from the Tribes. We held ‘em off for a few days, but they broke through the outer hatch and got the inner one open pretty quick after that. It was a damned bloody business when they finally got in, killin’ everyone that fought back as they tore through our home. A lotta good folks died.”

  The weight of what the older man said pressed heavily on Liam’s chest. “How long did they stay?”

  “They pulled out about three weeks back because the food from the hydroponics on level fourteen wasn’t enough to feed their army,” Patrick said. “It was bad while they were here. More testing. More burning. More torture. Pretty much everybody you see here hid on level fifteen; their army thought that floor had collapsed, so they never even tried to dig through the barriers.”

  The cafeteria had grown silent as the older man spoke, the hush had a mournful resonance to it that both lamented and respected those who were lost.

  “How many survived?” Rose asked.

  “Here, about five-hundred,” Kelly said. “But they took twice that number with them when they left; some joined and went willingly, but more were captured and taken by force.”

  Rose leaned back in her chair, her eyes were wide and her mouth hung slightly agape. “Oh. How awful.”

  “Yes,” Alice’s mother answered. “Only one in three of our population made it.”

  “Where did they take the others?” Liam asked, hoping that they hadn’
t been simply executed.

  “They’re on their way to Glenwood now,” Kelly responded.

  “What about Keith and Denise? What about their baby?” Rose asked.

  Tiger shook his head. “Priestess Oxana singled ‘em out because they were once your partners. She said that they would attract you to their fortress in Glenwood, and that was where you’d be killed.”

  Liam frowned. The priestess was right, he and his sister would follow the army to rescue their former partners and their child. It was a trap that they would willingly walk right into, and in doing so, they would probably die. Under an onslaught of both laser and railguns, even their improved repair systems couldn’t keep pace. They would willingly give up their lives for the sake of those who had betrayed them; perhaps that was a key difference between the android and human species. He glanced at his sister and knew she had reached the same conclusion.

  “Did Roxi die along with the rest, or was she taken too?” Rose asked.

  “She was tortured and too badly injured to leave with the army,” Tiger answered. “She died a few days after they left.”

  “She saved the lot of us,” Patrick added. “Told ‘em that level fifteen collapsed and buried the Resistance. She said we was all dead, and they believed her since her words came out under torture. So, they never looked too close and we got away.” He shook his head. “She was the bravest person I ever knew.”

  *****

  The cafeteria emptied after the meal. On their way out, several people stopped to offer Liam and Rose apologies for how they were treated. They thanked these strangers guardedly.

  “Should we trust them?” Rose asked.

  “I’d like to, but I doubt any forgiveness on my part will ever be genuine,” Liam replied.

  “There’s a price to pay for everything,” Kelly responded from across the table. “Deceit especially.”

  “Still though, we need to save the ones the army took.” Rose stood up and began to pace.

  “You would do such a thing for people that treated you so poorly?” Kelly asked.

  “Not for the ones that freely accepted the Burning Path,” Liam said. “They’ve earned whatever pain that comes their way.”

  “But we will for the others, like Keith and Denise, and especially their baby.” Rose shook her head as she walked. “My brother and I can’t stand by while innocent people are tortured and murdered. Something must be done; Adar’s cult has to be crushed.”

  “I thought you guys hated killing.” Tiger leaned forward. “Could you do that now?”

  Liam stared at his hands resting on the table for a long moment. “I don’t know,” he replied. “Revenge is never justified and murder is always wrong. You don’t cure madness by going insane yourself.”

  “What will you do then?” Patrick asked.

  “Rescue everyone we can, while harming as few as possible in the process.” He sighed. “But the leaders, along with their priests will have to die. The cult and their beliefs have to be purged.”

  “You’ll be havin’ some company,” the older man stated. “We’ve still got lasers and railguns stashed down on level fifteen; the Scarred Faithful took all the rest of ‘em when they left, so like it or not, there’s gonna be a fight.”

  “Yes, there definitely will be,” a woman in her mid-twenties with long blonde hair and blue eyes abruptly sat down beside Kelly.

  The woman seemed vaguely familiar. “Do we know you?” he asked.

  She rocked her head side to side. “Sort of; I used to be Roxi, but I’m Janus now.”

  Rose stopped her pacing and stared. “You built yourself an android body.”

  “The vernacular gets a bit confusing,” Janus replied. “Technically speaking, it was Roxi that built this body and gave me her memories, but the simulation routine invented by Lucy Galen created my soul. So, I remember everything in Roxi’s life up until just before you two were put on trial, but I’m not her, I’m Janus.”

  “That’s pretty strange,” Rose said. “Is it hard to cope with?”

  “I don’t have anything else to compare it to.” Janus shrugged. “I heard you say that you’re going after Adar and his nest of psychopaths, and I stopped by to say that I’m going with you, and so are a lot of others.”

  “We can use all the help we can get,” Liam stated. “But do you realize the size of the force we’re facing?”

  “Several thousand maniacs, all armed to the teeth and willing to die for their twisted cause? Oh yeah, I know what I’m getting into, but after what they did to my old self, and all the others here, I’m ready to do some ass-kicking.”

  Chapter 23: Plans

  Liam and Rose spent the night in the quarters they had once shared with their partners. Their friends might have thought that memories of Denise and Keith might provide motivation in the coming war, but if so, they were wrong. Those ghostly reminisces were a sweet agony that haunted him all the way until dawn, and he knew his sister felt the same.

  As morning came, Liam dressed in the familiar green fatigues worn by the Tribal Army, which brought back memories of his arrival at the shelter and moving in with Denise. That sense of being accepted in spite of his artificial existence made him happier than he had ever been. But love hadn’t been enough to bridge the gap between android and human. He stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, running his hand through unruly hair that would never grow and over facial stubble that could never become a beard. At last, he turned away, sickened by his imitation self.

  He left his room and found Rose waiting in the dimly lit hallway, her expressive green eyes belied an uneasiness that he shared. “Rough night for you too?” he asked.

  “It sucked,” she replied. “Now, let’s get this crap meeting over with.”

  He nodded and followed her toward the ramps. Plans had been made the previous evening to get together with Tiger, Alice, Janus, and several former members of the Tribal Army to discuss how they might save those captured by the Scarred Faithful.

  The meeting was already underway when they arrived on level twelve. Several tables had been pushed together, around which men and women quarreled vehemently, their angry voices rang through the dining hall.

  “We know where they’re goin’, and the route they’ll probably take,” a thin gray-haired man stated. “I say we’ve waited long enough. We gotta go after ‘em today.”

  Tiger stood at the front of the group with his hands held out placatingly. “Ernie, you know that the Scarred Faithful outnumber us ten to one, attacking them straight on would be suicide.”

  A low rumble of speculation filled the room. “What else can we do?” Ernie asked. “If we do nothin’ all our people are gonna die.”

  “But if we go after them and walk into a trap, we’ll all end up dead,” Tiger replied. “And it won’t be just us. After we’re gone, this shelter will be defenseless, so what’s to stop their army from coming back here to finish the job.”

  “We can’t just stand around with our thumbs up our asses though,” Ernie protested. “You saw what they did to our people, they set ‘em on fire and laughed while they screamed. They took our kin, and we can’t let the same thing happen to them.”

  “I say we leave now!” Janus walked to the center of the group. “Their army is too big to travel fast, especially while herding prisoners. We might still be able to catch them, and if so, surprise will be on our side.”

  Liam stood beside his sister at the periphery of the group. Raw emotion was taking over the meeting, and that wasn’t good. “Strategy always trumps brute force,” he said during a pause in the debate, and everyone turned to stare at him. “It’s best to have a plan before we act.”

  “My brother’s right,” Rose added. “Adar and his people must know that some within our shelter got away. Taking captives could be a ploy to draw everyone out where they can finish us off once and for all.”

  “There’s more,” Alice’s melodic voice quieted the crowd and drew everyone’s attention. “Before they left,
I overheard the priests talking privately.” She self-consciously looked about as everyone stared at her. “Oxana was telling the others that Adar had another vision. In that dream, he saw that we would come to Glenwood to rescue their prisoners, and when we did, the Stickman would show himself and destroy all of us along with the demons.”

  “Demons, meaning me and my sister,” Liam said. “So, Adar must know that we’re still alive.”

  “Exactly.” Alice glanced at Rose. “They took Denise and Keith because they were your partners, and they’re certain you’ll come to rescue them and their baby. They also know that the rest of us will try to rescue our friends and families. That’s the Stickman’s plan, and Adar has promised his followers that none of us will escape this time.”

  “So, we’ll be walkin’ right into a fuckin’ trap,” Ernie grumbled.

  *****

  The meeting had ended, and groups were assigned to organize the weapons and supplies they would need to travel all the way to Glenwood. Still in the cafeteria, Liam and Rose sat beside Janus, with Tiger, Alice, and her parents across the table.

  “So, you’re still going after them.” Kelly’s eyes shifted between him and his sister. “Don’t you think that’s just a wee bit crazy?”

  Rose chuckled. “My brother rarely does anything without thinking it through from a million different angles.”

  “Is that so?” Kelly asked.

  “I don’t like surprises, and always have contingency plans.” He glanced a Janus. “Roxi used to be the same way, but this woman? Not so much.”

  “Thinking too much leads to indecision and inaction,” Janus said. “But I’m still young and learning, so I guess there’s room to grow.”

  He nodded in response. “Janus made a good point though; we need to follow the Scarred Faithful and it needs to happen soon.” He raised an index finger. “But we need more of a plan than to just chase them and attack.”

  “What else can you do?” Patrick asked from across the table. “They took our people and we gotta stop ‘em, so it seems to me that running ‘em down is all we can do.”