“Still getting some bad readings down here,” Alistair’s voice crackled through the radio.
“Come on back,” MJ ordered. “We’re checking the gear anyway.”
“Roger that.”
Alistair started back up the hill at a slight jog. The location they were testing at seemed like it had gotten much further away. He didn’t’ think he’d walked that far, but his group was a little more than a faded blur through the fog.
He sped up, huffing in deep, heavy breaths that stuck to the glass on his visor. His steps scattered the loose sand and rocks as he struggled to keep his footing. The ground was uneven and the faster he tried to go the more he found himself scampering on all fours.
The sky rumbled louder, the thunder echoing in the silence like war drums as the wind pushed dirt through the air. He could feel the vibrations, his hands trembled and he fought through the panic and ran faster.
As he reached the top of the hill an alarm suddenly blared inside of his helmet. A string of numbers appeared on his HUD and “LOW AIR” flashed in bright red letters.
Coughing, he dropped to all fours and started to crawl. His lungs contracted and every breath he tried to take was like breathing through a plastic bag.
Fear stabbed at him and the sudden loss of oxygen induced hysteria. He couldn’t focus, too many thoughts were rushing through his head and a cloud of terror made the obvious impossible to see.
“MJ,” he gasped nervously. “MJ, I think…I think there’s a hole in my suit.”
CHAPTER 10
BLACKOUT
“What the hell is going on, Max?” Melinda screamed.
She was staring at a panel of monitors above the control station. Each one displayed the bio-metrics for the team that went out, but she was only worried about one of them.
Alistair’s monitor showed his heart rate spiking and his breathing elevated. Melinda could almost feel his panic as if it were her own. Alerts were popping up all over the screen and a flashing image of a heart flickered like a casino sign.
“MJ! MJ, come in!” Max pleaded.
Melinda grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him so they were face to face. “What does that mean, Max? What the hell does that mean?” She pointed to the monitor.
“I…I don’t know. I’m trying to find out. It could mean nothing.”
“This is your shit! Why do you even have all this crap if you don’t know what’s going on anyway?”
Max frowned and turned back to the control panel. “MJ, Jacob…is anyone receiving this?”
Melinda clapped her hands together and mumbled a prayer under her breath. She fought against tears that were swelling like a tsunami behind her eyes. Losing her shit wasn’t going to help.
She looked up to the monitor again as MJ and Daniel’s vitals elevated, but not as much as Alistair. In her head she pictured them all fighting for their life out there all alone, but she couldn’t let her mind get carried away. Pushing away the worst images, she pulled out a chair and sat down beside Max.
“Listen,” Max started but Melinda waved him off.
With a low growl, she ran her fingers through her hair then rounded on Max. “How accurate are these things? You designed all of this right?”
“I designed some of the—”
“If the communication system isn’t working the life support systems could be malfunctioning too…right?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“Damn it, Max! Just say yes, say yes that could be the problem.”
Max turned to face her and nodded. “Yes…yes I’m sure that’s the problem.”
“What the hell is going on out there?” Thomas asked as he barged inside.
His eyes shifted to Melinda and she nearly burst into tears. Gritting his teeth, he wrapped his arm around her and she fell into his chest.
“I’m sure everything is fine,” he said then turned back to Max. “What happened?”
“Lost comms,” Max replied. “I’m rebooting the system.”
As the screens went black the door swung open again. Cynthia entered the room, pushing Craig in a wheelchair. They both glared at Max then hesitantly scanned the room.
“Jesus, people,” Max growled. “This isn’t helping.”
“I’m not here to start shit,” Craig said in a weak voice. “Just trying to see how the team is doing.”
“I told him to stay in the infirmary,” Cynthia added. “He threatened to shoot me.”
“Comms went down about ten minutes ago. I…I can’t get a hold of the team. I’m rebooting the system,” Max explained again.
Craig nodded and rolled himself closer to the control station. Max fidgeted his thumbs as a swarm of eager eyes waited for him to “fix it.” Biting his lip, he turned around and faced the jury like he was about to plead for his life.
“Since all you guys are here,” he started in a low voice. “I might as well let you know that I redid the math on our air supply. I already let MJ know what I found.”
“And?” Melinda asked.
“It’s good news. We have at least a week and a half of air.”
“How do you fuck that up?” Thomas snapped. “You told us five to seven days! We sent those people out there…her boy out there, all because you said we were going to die!”
“Four extra days won’t matter. It’s not that simple. There’s a lot of- “
“No…no it is that simple, Max. This is people’s lives you’re playing with here. It’s not a fucking game!”
“Calm down, Thomas,” Craig interrupted. “It doesn’t matter. Three days, three weeks, we need to get the hell out of here. This doesn’t change anything.”
Thomas wanted to reply, but the look on Craig’s face warned him not to. He swallowed his words then turned and left the room. Melinda watched him before turning back to Craig with a death stare.
“At least someone around here gives a shit,” Melinda growled and started after Thomas. “Find my son, Max!”
She marched into the hall and slammed the door behind her. Craig took a heavy breath and held it then lowered his head.
“Well, if it matters to you two, I recalculated after the team left. So, it’s partly a bad estimate and partly because we went down by five.”
“Guess that makes sense,” Craig replied.
“You okay here?” Cynthia asked, breaking apart the awkwardness. “I’m gonna head back to the infirmary, keep an eye on Trevor.”
“Yeah, I’m good. Max can roll me around.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, Craig. You might feel like you’re better, but you need to take it easy for a while.”
Craig smiled. Cynthia chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Don’t have too much fun boys,” she called out as she left the room.
“I can’t reach them,” Max announced in a frustrated voice. “I…I don’t know what’s wrong, but nothing seems to be working. I lost their biometrics too and that was after they spiked through the roof.”
“You planned for this, right? You had to assume something like this would happen.”
“I did. But not this soon. It doesn’t make sense.” Max scooted his chair closer to Craig and leaned into his ear. “I didn’t want to say this around Melinda and that asshole Thomas, but I think something is wrong. The readings I was getting earlier, they weren’t good. The team was definitely in distress.”
Craig tightened his jaw. He spun the wheels back on his chair then whipped around and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Max asked.
“To start prepping. If we don’t get comms up soon, somebody needs to go find them. You coming?”
Max looked at the monitor then back to Craig and frowned. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”
CHAPTER 11
BEASTS OF THE STORM
“Alistair!” MJ screamed.
She rushed toward the top of the hill as fast as her legs would carry her. Alistair had fallen over and was laying on his back hyperventilating. She grabbed him by
the shoulders and feverishly searched his suit for a hole or any sign of a tear.
“Where is it? Where’d you rip it?” she asked over and over.
Rolling him onto his side, she checked the back of his suit, the legs, the arms, every inch of the rugged Kevlar infused fabric, but found nothing. Alistair flailed and kicked his legs frantically. His eyes were turning red as he strained and gasped like a suffocating fish.
MJ tried to access the display panel on his wrists, but Alistair slapped her hand away and started grabbing at his helmet. He tried to twist it off, but she wrestled against him.
“What’s wrong with him?” Daniel asked.
“Something’s wrong with his suit. Help me, he’s trying to take the helmet off.”
“He’ll die!”
Daniel joined in and tried to wrestle his hands away, but as he grabbed Alistair’s arm the release lock opened. Air hissed as Alistair pulled the helmet over his head and rolled onto his stomach. Gagging, he tried to sit up, but instead fell face first into the rusty terrain.
“Alistair!” MJ and Daniel shouted in unison.
Grabbing his helmet from the ground, Daniel tried to put it back over his head, but Alistair resisted. He held is hand out to keep Daniel away as he coughed and hacked until tears poured from his eyes.
“I’m…I’m fine,” he gagged then took a deep breath. “I can breathe, I can breathe.”
“What?” MJ asked, her eyes watching him skeptically. “No, no…”
She watched him for a few moments while he caught his breath. Slowly his breathing calmed down and the color came back to his face. He looked like he was going to be alright.
“It’s thin…a little thin. But it’s fine,” he mumbled.
MJ grabbed his arm and flipped the cover open on the small LCD screen. She toggled through a few menus then shook her head. “You must’ve turned off the recirculation when you were coming up the hill. You don’t have a hole, you were breathing carbon dioxide.”
“Idiot,” Daniel mumbled.
“Who cares?” Alistair asked with a laugh. “We can breathe, we can breathe up here. We’re gonna make it.” He smiled and for the first time in years he looked genuinely happy.
“Not so quick,” MJ replied. “We still have a lot to check. We need soil samples, we need to map this place out, check the water quality, and get some accurate readings from the air. You might drop dead any minute.”
“Not funny, MJ. I’m alive, we’re gonna live.”
“Well, you can start checking the water quality now,” Jacob said as a few drops of rain splattered against the dry soil.
The sky belched and a muted breeze pushed the rain sideways. It was only a light mist at first, barely enough to be called a drizzle. But more clouds moved in and the ground was turning to a muddy orange slush.
With a sizzling intensity, a bolt of lightning flashed and MJ nearly jumped out of her suit. She laughed to herself then stared up toward the darkening sky. Vibrations rattled through her body as the wind sent strafes of rain across her visor.
“Great,” she moaned. “Start packing up the equipment.”
Daniel grabbed his bag and Alistair began to dissemble the monitors. Cool water rolled down his face and he paused then crossed his legs and sat down in the dirt. Smiling, he blinked water from his eyes and blew a huff of mist into the air.
“What are you doing?” MJ asked.
“I’ve missed this,” Alistair replied. “There’s nothing like this feeling. Try it.”
MJ grinned and shrugged her shoulders. She reached up and grabbed the sides of her helmet, but stopped as Alistair suddenly grabbed his head and unleashed a hellish roar.
“What’s wrong?!”
Alistair rolled to the side and grabbed his helmet in a frantic tussle. He pulled it over his head and twisted it closed, still reeling from side to side. “The rain,” he panted. “It burns.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“The fucking water burns. Is there something on my face? It burned my face. Is there something on it?” Alistair’s eyes were wide as he grabbed MJ by the arms and brought his helmet toward hers. “My face, what’s wrong with it?”
“Calm down,” she said. “Just calm down. There’s nothing on your face. Just…just slow down and breathe.”
“I can feel it burning my skin!”
“Acid rain,” Jacob said casually. “Makes sense. Probably won’t kill you.”
MJ cut her eyes then grabbed Alistair by the shoulders to keep him calm. After a few moments, Alistair started to regain control. His face was slightly red, especially around his eyes where the skin was most irritated. But it wasn’t that bad, and didn’t look permanent. He took a deep breath and relaxed, cherishing the safety of his bio suit that he’d taken for granted only minutes earlier.
“How do your eyes feel?” MJ asked.
“They sting a little, but I think I’ll be alright. Sorry, I kinda overreacted.”
The rain started to fall harder, peppering them like bits of gravel being kicked out of a lawnmower. MJ stared up at the darkening sky as a chill ran down her back. Sighing, she tapped her fist against Alistair’s helmet then turned back to the group.
“We’ve gotta get out of this,” she said with a scary tremble in her voice. “I don’t know what these suits or equipment are made to handle.”
“There’s a building down there,” Alistair croaked.
“A building?”
“Yeah, down in the valley, half a mile maybe. Not too sure about what’s in it, but the structure looks solid and it has a roof.”
“I just wanna go back to the egg,” Cindy replied. “We shouldn’t be out here.”
MJ shot her an angry stare. “We’re two and a half miles from the egg…at least and you’re right, YOU shouldn’t be out here.”
“All packed up,” Daniel said before they could continue their argument.
“Good. Lead the way, Alistair.”
With a drained face, Alistair started back up the hill and down into the valley. The rest followed closely behind him, trembling as they made their way into the unknown. The landscape was foreign, even though it’d been their home at one point, it wasn’t anymore. Nothing looked the same and walking across the barren field was just as terrifying as being on an alien planet.
“It’s this way,” Alistair groaned as the skin on his face tightened. The pain dulled but now it’d become a nagging sensation that he couldn’t escape. All he could do was keep walking.
The acidic water ran down the gravelly slope as the team stomped through the muddy puddles. Up ahead they could see the run-down structure. It couldn’t really be called a building. It was probably a small warehouse at some point, constructed of iron support beams and metal roofing. The aluminum walls looked decrepit and covered with rust, but they were still standing defiantly like an old soldier that refused to abandon their post. The rain bounced from the canopy with an audible din that echoed in the quiet.
Alistair lifted his head and sighed. All he wanted to do was scratch his face then cover it with lotion but he didn’t have any and he wouldn’t dare take his helmet off while it was still raining. He’d learned a hard lesson but he’d learned it well.
Jacob and Cindy were in the back, walking like they were strolling through a park. Cindy only wanted to go back to the egg and Jacob was consumed with his own random thoughts. Every so often MJ would look over her shoulder and shoot daggers at the both of them. She wasn’t in the mood to babysit.
Suddenly, the wind sent a splattering of water onto Alistair’s visor and he jumped and nearly fell over a rock.
“You okay?” MJ asked.
Alistair laughed. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
MJ grabbed his arm so that he’d turn to face her. She had the look of concern in her eyes that only mothers could do. “How’s your face feeling?”
Alistair forced a painful smile. “I’ll be alright,” he replied before turning back.
It didn’t look l
ike the downpour was going to let up. The drops of heavy, thick sky-fall, pelted everything as the wind shoved the squall around. The ground ran with shallow rivers of orange and jagged rocks, the arid soil couldn’t drink the rain fast enough.
Thunder rumbled across the sky like the opening to a drum ballad. Lightning flickered through the gray mist with vibrant, treacherous flashes that seemed to have a mind of their own. The world had grown wild again, in the ways that it had been before mankind built towers, and satellites, and learned to fly. Mother Nature had reclaimed her place atop the food chain.
“Boric acid,” Jacob said out of nowhere.
“What?” MJ asked, shocked that he’d caught up.
Jacob held up the TDS meter and smiled. “Didn’t want to waste any rain. Burned the kids face because there’s low levels of boric acid in the water. Not enough to cause serious damage but enough to be irritating.”
“I’m not a kid,” Alistair retorted.
“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, the water, well at least the rain has boric acid in it. So, we can breathe the air, but so far there’s nothing to drink.”
“Take the good with the bad,” Daniel chimed in.
“You hear that?” Cindy asked as she paused and looked over her shoulder.
“What, the wind?” Jacob chuckled and stowed the TDS in his bag.
“No…no it was something else. From over there.” She pointed with a shaking hand. “That!”
Back toward the hill, craggy mounds of earth were splitting apart as the rain softened the outer shell. A low growl floated on the wind and something beneath the dirt pushed and prodded toward the surface. Claws broke the rubble as the harsh bellow grew louder.
“What the hell is that?” Alistair yelped. “What is that thing?”
A creature leapt from the dirt and landed in a puddle. It was the size of a large dog with bear-like claws and a hulking presence. Its body was flat and broad sitting atop short muscular legs covered in coarse, bristly hair.
The acidic water showered its back and it shook, swinging the knotted, white fur like a rag doll. Clumps of mud and rubble sailed from the tangled pelt and splattered to the ground. Leaning back, it raised an elongated snout and sucked in the air, tasting the scent of human flesh and shivering.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 90