Floor 21- Dark Angel

by Jason Luthor

  “Yeah, about that. Why didn’t we just get together in the Green Zone or something? Was it really that important that we had to meet here?”

  “Honestly?” I lean forward. “It is. I didn’t want to talk about it anywhere that wasn’t secured. Well, I couldn’t have talked about it anywhere that wasn’t secured, not if I wanted to stick to regulations”

  Mike suddenly looks serious. “Hey, man. What’s going on?”

  “It’s pretty simple, actually. I got word from the Colonel Martin that he wants to send a team out into the Deadlands. Now, we can’t roll out too many people. Everyone here knows how dangerous it is to head onto the mainland with a big crew. The Creep starts acting up, and this is supposed to be a low-key operation.”

  “This has something to do with the Tank, doesn’t it?”

  “That and this monster we keep getting reports about. We know it’s moved south, so the War Council thought this would be a good time to look into both issues at the same time.” I hold my hands out before they can start protesting. “Look, I know this is a gamble. We’ll be cutting close to raider territory at the same time that we’re looking for whatever it is out there that’s terrorizing people. Bigger names than me want this looked into though. They want to know what we’re up against.”

  “Intelligence mission, you mean.” Mike nods, and I can see his eyes darting back and forth, like he’s thinking up something. “I’ve been getting those feelings, Tommy. You know the ones. Premonitions.”

  “Those psychic powers of yours acting up?”

  “Yeah. Started happening the other day, when I was out with Cynthia. Had the pain in my chest. Feeling like I was going lightheaded. Something’s coming. Now, I don’t know what it is or when it’s happening, but something’s about to go down.”

  “Well, all the more reason to find out what we’re up against.”

  He shakes his head. “Okay, yeah. So, what’s the details? What do you need from us?”

  That forces a smile out of me. “You know exactly what I need from you two. It’s the same thing I’ve needed from you ever since we had to leave Commander Abbott behind, back when we split off on our own to come down the Tower. I need your help. Look, I didn’t just talk to Colonel Martin about this. President Branagh came to me himself to let me know I had free reign in choosing my team. We’re going out there with less than fifty men split across three teams. I’m in charge of the whole operation, but I’m going to need my best lieutenants to hold down at least two of the teams.”

  I hear Dodger laugh, because of course she does. “You know why they’re picking us to go out there, right? It’s not just because we’ve got experience dealing with the Creep. You know Martin doesn’t give a crap about whether we come back or not.”

  “Oh, I know. Thing is though, Dodger, we actually do have what it takes to get this done. You know it and I know it. We survived out there on own when we were wandering. We brought survivors back to Central Freedom. I mean, come on. There’s nobody else on the entire island who’s ever fought anything like Judge.”

  “I mean, everything you’re saying is true. I just want to point out that we’re on the list of people the colonel doesn’t mind throwing out there into the Deadlands.”

  “We all know that. But, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think the president feels that way.”

  I see her eyes rocket upward in her head. “Well, good thing about that, right? I’m glad Branagh’s got a soft spot in his heart. I guess he likes us so much he’s willing to let us march out there to die.”

  “Hey, nobody’s forcing you to go, alright? If you want out, then tell me right now and I’ll pick another L-T.”

  The thing about dating somebody you work with is that if you get into an argument, that argument doesn’t stay at work. Same thing applies when you say something stupid. So, when I see her eyes widen, like she can’t believe what I just said, I get this sick feeling in my gut when she looks off and says, “Wow.” It’s all she says, but the instant she says it, I know I’m in trouble. “Wow, wow, wow. Tommy, you can’t ask us here, drop all this on us, and not at least let me vent a little about it.”

  “I . . . Look, you’re right.”

  “That’s pretty shady, Tommy.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Real shady.”

  “I wasn’t . . . I’m not trying to—”

  The cough from the other side of the table reminds me that Mike’s still listening. “Hey, you two. Don’t mind if you guys want to get into your arguments later on. Not sure this is the time that calls for it, though.”

  Dodger raises her hands, like she’s surrendering or something. “You’re right. You’re right. I guess I must not have known what I was thinking.”

  “Dodger,” he continues, “I didn’t mean that. I’m with you. All of us know the colonel doesn’t care what we bring to the table. Guy never liked us. He’s got more experience working in Central and around the city, but he’s never known what it’s like being in a place like the Tower. We threaten him. Only reason why he doesn’t care about handing this mission off to us.”

  “See, that’s all I was trying to say. Is that so hard? I’m not going crazy over here.”

  “Nah. You’re right. Thing is, Tommy’s right too. Branagh likes us, and we’ve got more experience dealing with Creepers than most people. Plus, since we joined up with Central, we’ve learned how the raiders like to work. We’re the right people for the job.”

  She takes a deep breath and lays both arms out on the table, her eyes just hanging low. “I know that. I wasn’t ever going to turn down the mission.” Her eyes turn to me. “Sometimes, people just need to say what they’re feeling.”

  I nod. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I should’ve given you that space. That’s my screw up. And the truth is, we’ve needed to get that concern on the table, anyway. I think we’ve all known for a while that Martin wouldn’t care if we left the city tomorrow. The president trusts us though. But still, that’s not why I want us heading out there. I really believe we’ve got to protect this place. I still believe that, one day, we’re going to find an answer to the Creep. When that happens, we’re going to need the food from the Green Zone. I mean, we’re going to need to feed everyone from the Tower. That’s what we all want, right? To get our families out here?”

  “You know that’s what I want. Listen, I know what we have to do, okay? Like I said, I wasn’t ever going to say no.”

  “I promise I’ll give you more space to vent next time. Hey, I’m only leading here because I have to. I’m going to make mistakes sometimes. I’m fine admitting that.”

  “Why do you think I keep talking to you?” She pauses, takes a deep breath, and smiles. “Sorry. I kind of knew this was coming. Mike, I don’t have your weird sixth sense or whatever, but I didn’t need it to realize we’d have to go find the Tank eventually.”

  “You always were the smart one in the group,” he says as he smiles back at her. After a second, he looks over at me. “So, three teams, you said?”

  “Right,” I agree. “Each of us with a section, so all of us will have about fourteen militia members with us. We’ll spread out and cover a lot of ground before we met up at the last place the monster was spotted. I’ll give you more details later, but along the way, you’ll want to do whatever scouting you can. Check buildings, get on the roofs, just find whatever signs you can of raiders. If we can find anyone living out there that knows about the Tank, that’d be even better. What we need right now is information.”

  “When do we leave then?”

  “Well, the colonel still needs to talk things out with the council. I’d say a week at most. It’d probably be best if you guys started picking out some people that you trust. When we do roll out, it’s going to be at night. Last thing we want the raiders seeing is a lot of us moving out during the day. We’ll spread out to different positions along the river and move inward from there. Once we’re under the cover of the city, we can start moving d
uring the day.”

  Dodger nods at me. “I’ll start looking at a few people to bring along. My homegirls, if you will.”

  That makes me chuckle. “Great. Well, that’s going to be it for today. Like I said, I’ll fill you in once I know more.” I look over at Mike. “Say hello to Cynthia for us?”

  “Yeah,” he agrees. “We’ll do dinner sometime. Sometime before we leave.”

  “You bet.”

  Watson’s Recording 01

  I’ve been notified by both the Advisory Council and the War Council to start preparing some of the repulsion poles that keep the Creep at a distance. Well, it’s a good thing for them that I have been tirelessly working at manufacturing more over the last few months. In-between upgrading Central Freedom’s defenses, of course. The entire island is strategically lined with various types of defense systems, some for use against humans, others for use against the Creep. The bridges are where the majority of the island’s gun emplacements are located. Though, of all the defenses, it is undoubtedly the repulsion field projected over the entire island that serves it best. The city invests more than a half of the energy it generates from its Pocket Space generators toward creating the singularly largest repulsion field ever devised of by mankind. Of course, of all places, Central is uniquely positioned to be able to create such a field. The ancient broadcast towers that once decorated the city’s skyline were converted from their original purpose to project the repulsion field, and I know of few other places in the Deadlands that could accomplish a similar feat.

  Still, the designs are patchwork, inferior things, at least in comparison to the far more elegant designs that would be found in Apeiron technology. The conversion of the city’s many broadcast towers was the product of Carthaginian design. Carthage was never the scientific leviathan that Apeiron was and could never match it in technological production. The same cannot be said for weapons. Oh, yes. Carthage was quite skilled at producing weapons. They devised some of the deadliest handheld weaponry in the world, and their gun batteries were, similarly, quite impressive. It was impossible for them to build the batteries prior to the Towers sealing off, obviously. Carthage had to have installed them only after the city government fell apart, once it began to take in survivors, beginning in the Green Zone. Although I can’t say for certain, I imagine that neither Carthage nor Apeiron ever quite expected the world to simply fall apart the way it did. The Creep does have its ways of ruining the best laid of plans.

  When we first arrived here, I was, quite honestly, horrified at the state of disrepair the defenses were in. From everything I’ve been able to ascertain, the, ah, current residents possess only a modest ability to repair their technology. The original influx of engineers from both Carthage and Apeiron, those who first made the Green Zone their home, spent significant effort creating the weapons and devices that Central still uses to this day. Unfortunately, time holds little respect for even the most expertly engineered of devices. Upon my arrival, I made repairs to these defensive systems my utmost concern. From the evidence that I have gathered, I’d hypothesize that, hm, the residents of Central Freedom have only survived by continuously scavenging the surrounding Deadlands.

  Five centuries. Can you imagine? Five hundred years of having to constantly find new equipment to replace the old. Still, if the Carthaginian technology managed to survive as well as it did, you can imagine that the Apeiron technology in place managed to do far better. If Central ever managed to generate enough power, you could restore lighting and heating to every inch of the island. It would be as if the city had never shut down. As it stands, the city can currently be described as some horrendous chimera, bred from the infusion of Carthaginian technology into the existing Apeiron infrastructure. With the inelegant designs Carthage put into place to generate the city-wide repulsion field, a majority of the city’s power is focused on keeping that field up, leaving large portions of the city in the dark.

  To their credit, Central Freedom has at least prioritized their gardens. If there is one area on the entire island where I might possibly entertain the idea that they’ve been innovative, it would be in the Green Zone. It would seem that in the aftermath of the Following Fall, the original group of Carthaginian engineers laid the groundwork for establishing the underground gardens that exist today. Those engineers were practical, of course. They first established farms in the zone, knowing the construction of underground food facilities would take them decades. I’d, ah, guess that for many of them, the underground gardens weren’t completed until long after their deaths. However, it is those gardens that continue to make the city the source of food production not only for its own people, but the colonies throughout the Deadlands.

  Now, as to my efforts regarding the defense network. The gun batteries along the bridges are designed to destroy heavily armored vehicles or large groups, indicating to me that the island had its share of trouble securing itself at first. I believe my hypothesis to be correct based on an inventory I took of the coastline. There were once, hm, multiple bridges that connected this island to the surrounding lands. Currently, there are only four of those bridges left intact. As I am told, there were also once underground tunnels connected to Central Freedom that have essentially been blocked off due to the concentration of Creep there. Those were certainly not the only routes cut off. You can, hm, you can see the destroyed bridges. They remain standing today, though they’ve been collapsed halfway across. Given the resilience of the remaining bridges to the rigors of time, I presume that explosives were purposely used to keep the Creep at bay. The four bridges that Central currently commands are relatively easy to defend, so long as the defensive batteries remain in place.

  It is interesting to note that the city maintains defenses meant to protect against aerial assaults as well. It’s a, ah, an interesting tidbit, to say the least. This means they have witnessed air attacks at some point in their history. Now, it is true that they have aircraft here, but they’re not much more than short distance transportation meant to carry people around the Deadlands from time to time. They use them in emergencies or for scouting purposes, but they don’t have much in the way of attack craft. I have heard the stories about airborne Creepers, of course, but have yet to see any of them myself. That is, I presume, why there are members of the militia who are trained to man the air defenses. Still, I would like to flying Creepers. There mere idea is . . . fascinating. Extraordinarily fascinating. The Creep must have created them in response to some aerial threat it faced itself. I don’t remember having any discussions about such creatures in my centuries of life, though I also must remind myself that there is so much I’ve forgotten after five hundred years. It seems the mind cannot endure even when the body does, to my great chagrin.

  Ah, but, there goes the time. They want updates regarding the status of the repulsion poles. It is almost comical to think that they wanted such a high number produced in such a short time, but it is equally comical to think that they didn’t consider I’d already been manufacturing them for months. I may not be what I once was, but I still understand the importance of making preparations. In a world such as ours, preparation is vitally necessary. It is the only thing that separates us from being consumed in the Creep.

  Tommy’s Recording 04

  When I see what Cynthia’s made for dinner, I feel pretty bad for having tried to make anything for Dodger. Obviously, I’m going to keep trying, but Cynthia’s cooking puts mine to shame. That’s what happens when you’ve spent a lifetime in the Deadlands, I guess. You learn to be creative with whatever you find. I can tell she enjoys cooking, too. The second we’re at the table, she waits until we’ve all taken a bite before she eats anything off her plate. She likes to see how we react. I’m swallowing what I think’s carrots between bell peppers and zucchini when I tell her through a full mouth, “Whatever spices you used are amazing.”

  Dodger looks my way with that grin of hers, the one she uses anytime she’s joking about my food. “It is amazing, isn’t it, Tommy
? And the seasoning is so perfect!”

  “Thanks, Dodger.”

  Cynthia barely holds back a laugh. “I guess you had problems last time you made dinner.”

  “I . . . might . . . have used too much seasoning.”

  “I told you, Tommy, you’ve got to go light. You want to give people just a hint of something, not smack them over the head with it. When you cook, you’ve got to balance everything so it works together.”

  “I can see that. Kind of like running a fire team.”

  “Well, if we must frame everything like a military drill, then yes. Like a fire team.”

  That’s when I see Mike finishing up his plate. The guy decides to wrap up his dinner before saying a word. “I’ve thought about this before. You can have a lot of good parts, but too much of one thing ruins everything.”

  Cynthia nods. “Like the seasoning.”

  “Funny you say that. Sometimes I feel like the Scavengers were more disciplined that the militia out here. Almost like nobody knows how to manage personalities.”

  “If what I heard from the older colonists is true, then that’s because things changed a lot after Fort Silence broke off from Central. I feel like sometimes the militia leaders play favorites.”

  That catches my attention. “Yeah, I don’t think you’ll find anyone here that disagrees.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Besides of the fact that we see it happen all the time?” I have to cover my mouth with a towel so I don’t laugh my food out onto the table. “Our old commander, Commander Abbott, would have hated the way some of the generals on the War Council play favorites, promoting people just because they won’t question the Council’s orders.”

  I can see her focusing, like she’s trying to remember something. “Abbott. Abbott. I feel like I’ve heard you mention him.”

  “Probably. He had a big influence on all of us.”