Floor 21- Dark Angel

by Jason Luthor

  The second I lay eyes on her, I have to admit, I’m a little . . . shocked, is the word. She’s standing at the center of maybe a half dozen raiders, and she’s clearly more than a head taller than the rest of them. The woman’s got more muscle than I’ve seen on most men, and her jaw’s set like a rock. Her head’s topped off with this shock of white hair that forms a flat top, almost like a mohawk. The tank top she’s wearing shows off every inch of muscle that’s bulging out of her frame, but it’s not just the muscle that’s got my attention. It’s the different parts of her arms. Parts of her shoulders. Places where the skin ends and metal plates begin, or where thick steel fibers replace her muscles. “What the hell is this?”

  “Half woman, half machine. An augmented human being with several times the strength of any normal person.”

  “Where did she get the technology to do that?”

  “You see your dilemma,” Malloy says, and he’s not smiling any more. “Mr. President, I understand things have been relatively peaceful here in Central Freedom for some years. The advantage of your bridges has kept the bulk of any raiders away, and your colonies have benefited from the Raiders being loosely organized until recently. Our times are changing though, and these are no longer than Deadlands of centuries past. The Creep is a threat that will always be with us, but now we have an enemy who’s accessed a significant weapons stockpile and technology of staggering complexity. We are in an arms race, President Branagh. Fort Silence is doing everything it can to uncover its own stores of weapons and technology, but we’re playing catch up. We want . . . We need your support to be successful. Without having to constantly divert forces to resupplying, we could focus on finding other weapons reserves around the city.”

  While he’s talking, I realize there’s someone else in the picture. She’s hunched over in a wheelchair, with a hood pulled down over her face. Her skin’s tinted just a little, like she’s turning a shade of orange, and I can see . . . well, something along her jaw line. Almost . . . I could swear it looks like a tendril. “Who’s that?” I ask, pointing at the photo. “The girl in the wheelchair. Erin told us something about the Tank having a sister.”

  “Ah, yes. The young woman behind her is, indeed, her sister, so far as we know. We don’t know much about her or where they came from, but as long as they’ve been in public together, the Tank has always been the dominant figure while her sister seems to have been severely injured at some point in the past. At least, injured enough to keep her off her feet.”

  Martin leans over to me. “Mr. President, I think it’s best we have a discussion about this news. If only to reconsider our current decisions.”

  “Right. You’re absolutely right.” I look up to Mr. Malloy and signal to the door. “I think I need to take some of this information to the councils. We’ll be happy to set you and your men up with a room for the evening.”

  He gives me one last flash of that ratty smile. “Quite appreciated, Mr. President.”

  Mike’s Recording 06

  Grabbed food with Tommy today. In town, not at the garrison. There’s a place along the Green Zone where we eat once in a while. The government provides a basic amount of food for everyone week to week, but we can afford to dine out once in a while from the credits we make as part of the militia. The diner we drop into’s good. Not Cynthia good, but good enough. Tommy grabs a mushroom burger and I get by on fried eggplant. Overall? Not bad. But yeah, we probably split about ten minutes of chit chat before he looks me dead in the eyes, like he needs to get something off his chest.

  “Mikey,” he says, and just by the tone, I know it’s not going to be a chill conversation. “We’re getting sent out soon. I need you to keep it quiet because the Advisory Council’s not supposed to know, but the president wants to try and get us out there hunting for the Dark Angel. Again.”

  “Why’s the council not supposed to know?”

  “President wouldn’t tell me. Apparently, that convoy that came in from Fort Silence was carrying some intel. Branagh said he couldn’t go into it, but he was pretty sure the War Council would make another push to break the treaty if they learned what he knew. The president wants to prove we can trust the rebels before the council gets a chance to cancel the alliance. Apparently, the Angel’s been seen even closer to Central, and it’s got a lot of people spooked. We’ve been getting lots of reports about fire in the sky, people disappearing, that sort of thing. The president wants to get this dealt with.”

  I’m scarfing down half an eggplant when he drops all this on me. “Damn. Well, you know me, Tommy. Anything you need, I’m there. You want me on your team? I’ll be at the head of the line. I L-T for you all the time, so I’ve got no problem heading back into the Deadlands.”

  “No, I know that, Mikey,” he says while almost laughing. “You don’t need to convince me.”

  “Well, with half the stuff you have to deal with, I figure you need to know someone’s got your back.”

  “I appreciate it. Really. But, if I’m being honest . . .” And this is where I can tell something’s real wrong, because Tommy takes a second to figure out what he wants to say. “What I really wanted to talk to you about was what you’d want to do if we ever did end up siding with Fort Silence.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, if this place ever started turning into a place like the Tower, with everyone always having to watch over their shoulder, would you want to keep staying?”

  I have to put my fork down at this point and lean in, because I’m not sure I understand what I’m hearing. “Just, ease my mind, Tommy. You talking about leaving?”

  “Not . . . necessarily.”

  “You’re talking about leaving.” Don’t mean to, but I feel my voice drop to a whisper. We’re tucked into a corner in the middle of an empty dining room, and I still feel like I have to keep this quiet. “What’re you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking that when we first came down that Tower, it was to find food for the people back home and to rescue any Scavengers that were trapped on the lower floors. We did that. Afterward, we made another promise.”

  “You don’t have to say it.”

  “We promised Jackie—”

  “Damn it, Tommy, I told you, you don’t got to finish it.”

  “It’s just, Dodger was talking about wanting to see her family again at some point, and if this place becomes anything like the Tower, we’re not going to have a lot of chances to go finding a solution to the Creep.”

  “Don’t think I get that? Don’t think I understand the problem of living under dictators? Or, do I have to remind you that I was a Scavenger a while before you were. I was exploring those lower floors right alongside Jackie, so don’t drop her name on me because you want to guilt me on getting out of here.”

  “Whoa. Hey.” He holds his hands up. “Mikey, I’m sorry, man. That’s not how I meant to come across, but I probably did mention her to . . . I don’t know. To get you to think about my side.”

  “I think about it, man,” I tell him while I’m straining my hair through my fingers. “Sorry, it’s just, I get it. People out here . . . They don’t. They don’t understand what it’s like having to watch everything you say or having to act a certain way if you don’t want to get punished. Having to be exactly how the world wants you to be if you want to survive. I don’t want that here.”

  “Well, if we can’t get some results out of our alliance with the raiders, the Advisory Council might make this an issue again. I’m not saying we need to start getting ready to get out of here, not right now, but I just think we should have a plan in case we need to.”

  “Tommy. It’s easy for you to say that. If you want to pick up and leave, Dodger can come with you. She can survive out there in the Deadlands.”

  I see his eyes drop. “You’re thinking about Cynthia.”

  “Thing is, Cynthia might be able to cut it out there. She’s no soldier, but she’s tough. Mandy though? You think the world out there’s a place for a twelv
e-year-old girl?”

  “We could . . . I don’t know. Leave them in the colonies?”

  “Maybe. If Fort Silence is as bad as we keep hearing, you think they won’t lock down on those, too?”

  “I don’t know. I guess . . . I guess I didn’t think about it.”

  “I have been. Too much, ever since Cynthia told me she’d be okay partnering with the fort if it meant keeping Mandy safe.”

  “She told you that?”

  “And to be honest? How can I blame her? They already lost their parents. What am I supposed to do, ask them to follow me out there into the Deadlands? Put their lives at risk again?” I heave out because the topic does stress me. “I loved Jackie, Tommy. Not, like, I was in love with her, even if we all know I had a thing for her for the longest time. But I loved her. It’s just . . .” I suck in a breath as I say it. “It’s almost been a year, man. A year since she died. I can’t . . . I can’t keep fighting for her at this point, not after all this time. I’ve got someone now, someone that makes me feel like the best person I can be. For better or worse, my home’s here. I’d love to get back out there and finish the fight. Find the solution to all this. And Tommy, I would. I’d go back out as long as I knew Cynthia and Mandy were safe. If you can find a way to make sure they are . . . I’ll be right there with you.”

  “I get it,” he says as he’s shaking his head. “I really do, Mike. I guess, sometimes it feels like Jackie is there, in the back of my head. Half the time, I feel like I was just talking to her yesterday.”

  “I feel you.”

  “I mean, I can literally hear her voice sometimes, like we’re still joking in the hall. But . . . you’re right. Maybe I can’t keep fighting for her. But, I’ve still got to do it for Dodger. Just the same way you’d stay here because you think it’d be best for Cynthia, I’d have to go.”

  “My man, I think we’ve got a long way to go before that happens. I hope, anyway. Let’s . . . Yeah, let’s talk it out a bit more at some point. What the long-term plan is. Me, you, Dodger. Plus the doc.”

  That makes him laugh. “Doctor Watson. Yeah, guess we can’t leave him behind, can we.”

  “Something’s up with that dude, Tommy. Not sure what it is, but somewhere in that brain of his, I think there’s some way he’d be able to find out how all this got started.”

  “I guess that’s just one more thing we’ll all have to talk about.”

  Dodger’s Recording 06

  When Tommy knocks on the wall and pops into the kitchen, I almost snap my head up. “What? Is something wrong?”

  “Hey, hey. Everything’s peaches. I just swung in to let you know you have a guest.”

  “Ooh. A guest?” I’ve barely got the words out of mouth before I see someone behind him. She’s instantly recognizable. I mean, the girl’s got the silkiest black hair I’ve ever seen. “Yazzie?”

  She smiles at me. “Hey, lieutenant.”

  Tommy waves at me. “I’ll let you two talk. I’ve got stuff to do, but I’ll be in the other room.” He takes one look at her and smiles before walking way. “Good to see you, Yaz.”

  “You too, captain,” she says with a polite bow of her head. Yazzie’s always been super deferential, always thinking she has to be overly polite about everything. Still, I love the girl. “Can I sit with you?”

  “Can you?” I wave to the chair next to me. “You think I like sitting by myself in the kitchen?”

  “No, I guess not,” she says between a laugh. She’s in that chair pretty quick, like she doesn’t want to inconvenience me by sticking around too long. “It’s really good to see you, lieutenant.”

  “Dodger. Please, just call me Dodger. We’re not on duty, and I’m not going back out again until I’ve gotten completely fixed up.”

  “Your arm is still hurting?”

  “Yeah, like someone’s pushing a hot piece of metal into it. It’s not all the time, but it still gets pretty bad every once in a while. The docs gave me some meds to deal with that, but it’s not always great at reducing the pain.”

  “I . . . I can only imagine. I’ve never been shot.”

  “Lucky you, believe me. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”

  “Everyone’s been worried about you, you know.”

  It gets a quick laugh out of me. “Why? That makes no sense. You’ve got other people who can fill in for the team.”

  “Yeh, but they’re not you.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

  She takes a long second before saying anything else. It’s like waiting on someone to shoot me. Again. “Before she. . . passed . . . Gomez told me what she told you. About how we felt about you.”

  “What? That I was an intimidating horror beast from the depths of the Tower?”

  It gets a smile out of her. At least it gets one out of me, too. “We weren’t intimidated of you just because of that. It was part of it, but not the only thing.”

  “Then what, then?”

  “You intimidated us because you were so good at what you did.”

  “So good at what I did?” My eyes roll so hard, I make my own head hurt. “Was it almost getting you killed or actually getting Gomez blown up that made you feel that way?”

  “No. It was all the times you saved our lives. It was how good you were with a gun. It was how you knew how to plan.”

  “I must have been somewhere else when all that happened, because I don’t seem to recall . . . any of it, really.”

  “Dodger, we were all together when we went northwest on that mission, to the Minnewaska Preserve. To the water refinery.”

  When she says it, I suck in a breath. “The time when Tommy got shot in the leg. By Erin.”

  “I know you don’t give yourself a lot of credit, and honestly, I think it’s one of the only reasons we were never completely afraid of you. You’re so . . . human. But the truth is, you make decisions that need to get made. How much do you remember about what happened up there?”

  “Honestly? I think I try and forget most of it.”

  “You shouldn’t. We don’t. We all still talk about it, us in the militia. If it hadn’t been for you, Captain Jones wouldn’t be alive. A lot worse would have happened to him than just being shot.”

  “That . . . that’s not true. Mike saved him. We were all there. Mike’s the one that came in with his team and forced Erin off.”

  “You got Mike there. If you don’t give Gomez the order to take a sniping position, Mike stays pinned down by raiders. If that happens, Tommy never gets saved. You’re the one who made the calls that saved him. It was your plan.”

  She’s saying all this to me, and I just . . . I start to remember it. Maybe I just don’t think much about the fights we fight. I really don’t like to. She’s right, though. I was trying to get to Mike to help, but I split up the team. I sent Gomez and some of her people up a ridge while I took everyone down into the valley. While I held off more raiders, Gomez freed up Mike. Her and her people shot through a dozen attackers from their place on the hill, and that got Mike free to rush down to rescue Tommy.

  “We needed to be in two places at once,” I finally say. “That’s why I sent the team in two directions. When I got to where Mike was, he was about to get pinned on two sides. His whole team would’ve just been slaughtered. I helped keep the rear safe while Gomez cleared the way forward.”

  “Dodger, we lost people that day, too.”

  “Yeah. Alia Jennings. Thomas Marshall. Good . . .” I feel the corners of my eyes burning. “Just good people.”

  “And why is that any different than what happened in the Deadlands?”

  “Because . . .” I can feel my voice breaking even while I’m talking. “Because the people we lost weren’t mine. They were Mike’s, or Tommy’s, but . . . not mine. And they weren’t Gomez. Gomez . . . She trusted me. She talked to me, like a . . . a friend.”

  “Because you were friends. But you weren’t just friends. You were her L-T. She would have don
e whatever you asked, not because you were friends, but because it was her responsibility. Even if she knew it was a one-way trip, she still would have gone. Do you know why?”

  “No.” I just shake my head. “Why?”

  “Because she wasn’t just fighting for you. She was fighting for me. For Mike. For the captain. All of us. She trusted you to make the right decision for all of us, not just for her. And you did. Nine times out of ten, she comes back alive. She didn’t this time, not because you made the wrong call, but because you made the right one. You saved the rest of the team.”

  “I just . . .”

  “Lieutenant.” She stresses the word, like she needs to remind me who I am. “You can put anyone else on that team to lead us, but they’ll never be you. We’ll do our jobs regardless of who’s there. But . . . we want you back. Everyone wants you to know that. We know how much you’ve been hurting about this, but we don’t want to head back out there without you. Not if we don’t have to.”

  When she says that, my eyes suddenly snap up. “You’re getting deployed?”

  “Word is the War Council wants to move onto a second search for this Dark Angel as soon as possible. Everyone thinks they’re just testing to see if the alliance will hold up with the raiders. Maybe, but like I said, it’s our jobs. We’ll do it because we have people to protect.”

  “I know. I know.” I suck in hard, until my lungs feel like they’re sizzling, then release. “Okay. Okay. I . . . I need time though, Yazzie. I mean, I haven’t even talked to . . . Haven’t said anything to her family. To any of their families. I need to do that. I don’t think I can really put it behind me if I don’t. Plus, I still have this,” I say with a nod to my shoulder. “I need my arm to clear up before I can even pretend like I can hold a rifle. After that . . .” I shake my head while I’m sucking for air. “After that, I promise, I’m going to try my best. Really.”

  “Thank you. Dodger. The team does miss you, but . . . I miss having you around too. It’s not the same with you gone.”