Floor 21- Dark Angel

by Jason Luthor

  “Sure you have. Every time you’ve shot a Creeper through the stomach.”

  “Yeah, but this was different. It was way more effective than anything I’ve seen a Creeper do.”

  “Watson’s already filed a preliminary report with me. According to him, the cells in her body are about ten times as efficient at repairing wounds than traditional Creep cells. The whole time she was losing blood on the way to the garrison, those cells were creating more. To be honest, Tommy, it makes you see why the War Council isn’t as big a fan of her as we are.”

  “Because of what she can do.”

  “Because what she can do is a lot like what Creepers do.”

  Tommy’s head drops, and he puts his head in his hands. “I get that. I’ve thought that. It’s . . . impressive, and awe inspiring, but it’s pretty scary, too.”

  “You’re afraid of her?”

  “What?” His eyes shoot up at me. “No. Of course not. But if anyone else had that kind of power . . .”

  “It would make you hesitate because you don’t know them. Because you don’t have a history that makes you trust them.”

  “Right.”

  “Exactly why the War Council’s on me about making sure we have some precautions set up in case she ever went rogue. To be honest, I’m not even sure what sort of precautions would do the trick.”

  “Missiles and a few hundred rifle rounds.”

  I chuckle. “You’re probably right. I’m not too interested in making it a priority, though.”

  “You trust her?”

  “After how many of my people’s lives she saved? You bet your ass I do. I don’t want you to doubt that.”

  He smiles. “It’s just funny because, back in the operating room, even Colonel Martin sounded like he was worried about her.”

  “Martin’s a lot of things, but he’s not stupid. I know he grates you, but there’s a reason I don’t make as big a deal about Martin as I do about the War Council or Dravic. Martin won’t take your word for anything, but he’ll believe you by what you do, by your actions. This is twice now that he’s seen Jackie put her life on the line for his people.”

  “Yeah. I guess she’s started to make an impression.”

  “Well, she has a way of doing that. Sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s bad. What you can’t deny is what she’s capable of.”

  “Especially after seeing what she did today, plus all the work she put in during the invasion.”

  I pause for a second before I continue. It feels like it might be inappropriate to bring this up at the moment, but I have to. So, I look at him, and I ask, “Tommy. Is she going to be good to travel with us up to Fort Silence?”

  When I ask, I can see him stare up at me like he thinks I’m insane. “Sir, that’s in . . . that’s in two days. She just got done taking a metal casing through her stomach and I don’t know how many bullet rounds through her back.”

  “I understand. I also understand that, as you’ve told me, she’s already patched up, for the most part. So, I need to know whether she can travel with us. I know what the doc’s answer is going to be, but I want to hear from you. Let me put your mind at ease, though. If you tell me she can’t do it, well, I’ll respect that.”

  “Mr. President, I . . .” He looks away for a second as he tries to find some way to respond. “I mean, I don’t know how it works with someone who has that kind of power. I guess . . . I guess if she says she’s okay, and the doc says she’s okay, then it’s fine.”

  “But you still have a problem with asking her to go out there this fast.”

  “Well, yeah. Why do we even need to bring her?”

  “Because we’re at a disadvantage, Tommy.” I grab for my glass and take a sip, maybe hoping it will help me to explain it all. “Ever since Dravic’s stepped down, he’s done nothing but back me up at every turn, but there’s been something calculated in the way he’s done it. It’s done nothing but earn him even more favor from the Advisory Council, to be honest. Hell, even the War Council is on his side. If he didn’t keep turning down their attempts at unseating me, I might not be president right now. The truth is, we’ve got a lot of representatives and generals who want this alliance with Fort Silence. Now Dravic’s saying he wants us to look into establishing relations, and if he’s saying that, then I’m under the gun. I have to go, or I’ll lose even more support to him. The only problem is, if we do head up there, we’ll be going from a position of weakness. We just barely held off the largest attack we’ve ever suffered by the raiders. There’s ton of equipment we lost in that battle, plus we’ve gotten to the point in our ammunition reserves that a lack of weapons is becoming a real concern.”

  “So, we have to talk to them.”

  “Right, but we don’t have to do it alone. Jackie isn’t a solution to every military problem, but she’s a mighty strong piece on the board. The ultimate force multiplier, if you will. We just watched her take out multiple rocket vehicles, armored personnel carriers, not to mention shrug off bullet fire and explosions. True, she got hurt, but she lived, and something tells me she’s going to keep getting even better at this the more she’s in the mix.”

  “What you’re telling me is you want Jackie at these meetings so that General Yousef doesn’t think he can just run over us.”

  I smile at him. “You’re smart. Of course, that’s why you were given a command. That’s how you keep your people alive.”

  “She’s a show of force.” He looks away for a second. “She won’t like being talked about like this.”

  “Like it or not, Tommy, we’re in a bad position. There’s an arms race going on with Fort Silence building up its military power and the raiders doing the same. God knows where those raiders are getting their tech from, but the point is that it’s getting dangerous for us. The only people who’ve been out of the game has been us here at Central Freedom. Now, I don’t want to walk into the hornet’s nest without at least something to show we can hold our own. It sounds cruel, but I need Jackie to be that trump card.”

  “I’m guessing this is pretty important to you, but . . . you’re making her sound like just another tool. Mr. President, I’ve known you long enough to know that’s not the case, it’s just that you sound like . . . I don’t know. You sound like you just want to use her.”

  “I know what it sounds like, but I can assure you, that’s not the case. That girl has more grit and heart than I’ve seen in anyone on either the War or Advisory Council. I’d never make her go to this meeting if she didn’t want to. If she couldn’t. The truth is, though, that I could use her help. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

  “You think Yousef’s going to try and push us to get his way?”

  “I know that’s exactly what he’s going to try and do. You didn’t know his father, and frankly, neither did I, but I was around when he was in power. From all the decisions that came down from him, well, the man was a lot like Yousef. Maybe not quite as extreme, but boy, was he a military nutcase all his own. Always pushing for more military control and less power to the people. Him and Dravic were peas in a pod, if you get the reference. If it’d been up to him, we’d have only had a War Council and no Advisory Council. No civilian representation. And that, Tommy, is what really scares me. Jackie’s what she is, but she’s still one person. Yousef, just like his father, is a man backed by a military that really believes it could do a better job if it were in complete control. That’s a dangerous road to walk though. Once you give up complete power, give up your ability to exist independently without the military making decisions for you, you might never get that power back.”

  “Yeah. I get it. Really. I’ve told you about how things were back in the Tower, with Tower Authority making all of our decisions for us. Honestly? There were times when we were in the Creep that I thought, at least I don’t have to worry about someone telling me what to eat or where to be.”

  “Exactly, and that’s only a small sample of what a man like Yousef would do, given half the chance.
I know that a lot of our history’s been lost to us, but I try and read up on as much of it as we can find. It’s hard to piece everything together, but there are principles, bedrock truths that people once believed in. Limiting the power of any one person or force was one of them. As one of our ancient politicians once said, ‘The accumulation of all power in the same hands, whether those hands are one or many, is the very definition of tyranny.’ Power should be divided so that it can’t be exploited. Once a man like Yousef has all the power he needs concentrated in his hands, or the hands of himself and his advisors, he won’t let it go. He’ll use it as an excuse to flood our streets with his soldiers and claim it’s to protect us from the Creep. The truth is that he’ll just be using his power to make sure we can’t voice a complaint without having to stare down a rifle barrel.”

  “Considering what I’ve seen happens when bad people take all the power for themselves? I can believe it.”

  The screen on the wall suddenly starts ringing, and I motion to Tommy to be quiet for a moment before opening a channel. When I do, it’s the doctor’s face staring back. He’s a good guy, if a little tiring sometimes. “Doctor Watson. Do you have an update for us?”

  He glances off screen for a moment before looking back at me, obviously stressed. “A rather significant one, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh? Is there a problem?”

  “It’s our patient.”

  “So I assumed. Is there something wrong with her condition?”

  “Her physical condition? Apparently, none at all. I’m more greatly concerned by the fact that she’s leaving the laboratory.”

  I see Tommy reflexively sit up in his chair. I don’t blame him, since I’m almost instantly leaning forward in mine. “She can’t leave in her condition. You need to stop her.”

  “A woman who cuts holes in the sides of armored military vehicles and absorbs missiles to the chest? I am open to suggestions regarding how you believe I might do so.”

  I glance back at Tommy, whose eyes are already on the door of my office, before looking back at the doctor. “Alright, doctor, we’re going down there. Where was she heading?”

  “As far as I know, she was merely trying to leave Central. I believe she was heading to the courtyard.”

  “We’re on it.” I cut the channel and look back at Tommy. “Come on. I don’t like the idea of her walking around this soon. I don’t care what sort of super healing power she has.”

  Tommy just nods back to me as I lead the way out of my office. We’re sprinting to the stairs that lead down to the first floor, but the whole building’s buzzing with people rushing by us. It feels like everything’s alive, and I can’t help but wonder if something’s wrong. Tommy’s right behind me as we fall in with the crowd, and soon we’re flowing through the halls like we’re riding on a river current. When things finally slow down, I pull rank and shove my way through a crowd of troopers, barely getting to the overhanging balcony that looks down on the first floor lobby. There, Jackie’s already encircled by a crowd of people. Her armor’s already finished repairing itself, and she’s secured from head to toe in metal plating. I can see her eyes shooting around the crowd from behind her mask, like she can’t tell what’s going on. Honestly? Neither can I. Everything’s just dead quiet for a minute while it feels like the whole garrison’s watching her. It might as well be. People are shoulder to shoulder from one end of the lobby to the other, the crowds flowing up the stairs on either side and up onto the second floor. I obviously can’t tell who everyone is that’s standing there, but I recognize some of them as men and women who went out on patrol with Mike. Some of them were with Jackie during the training patrol.

  As intimidating as Jackie might look in that armor, she hates the spotlight, and I can tell that, underneath the mask, she feels nervous. I do too. Everything’s too quiet, like a pressure’s building up in the garrison that’s just waiting to be released. And when it finally does, it all starts with one person. One of the women that was out there with Mike starts to clap. Then, someone next to her joins in, and then another, and another. Soon, it’s a rolling wave of applause that’s filling up the garrison. It’s not long before I’m looking at an entire building of people that are cheering for her. Hell, I become one of them.

  I can see her looking around because she’s not sure of how to take it, but when she sees Tommy and me looking down at her . . . I don’t know. It’s like she just accepts it. She nods our way before looking around for a long second, taking a deep breath as the applause keeps echoing through the building. Finally, after a few moments of waiting out the thundering applause, she raises a hand up. She lets it hang it the air for a long second before bringing it to her head and saluting to the militia. Then, she’s walking. Jackie walks forward, those broad shoulders of hers entering the crowd, all seven feet of muscle, blood, and steel soldiering into the night.

  Everyone gives way as she walks through the middle of them, but there are people patting her on the back or the shoulder. Anything just to touch her, really. The crowds close up behind her and follow her out, Tommy and I struggling to force our way into the courtyard. We make it just as everyone is giving her space, her head tilting to the night sky as they do. She doesn’t turn to face the crowd again, but she raises her hand one more time, waving at them as she looks up into the clouds. Behind her, her pack ignites, and for a second, I can see the flames curving upward, like fiery angel wings burning into the air. Then, her pack goes into full ignition, and she’s flying into the skies. For what feels like minutes after, everyone keeps clapping, cheers roaring through the courtyard as a trail of fire cuts across the clouds. That whole time, all I can think is that I hope she sees what I see. What she inspires in the people.

  Jackie’s Recording 02

  When I hear the door open behind me, I’m ready for it to be Tommy, or Mike, or Dodger, or . . . I don’t know. Someone who’s come looking for me to ask me if I’m alright. If I’m doing okay. You know, the sort of questions I’m tired of people asking because . . . it just fills you with some kind of righteous indignation when you’ve been asked a thousand times.

  Then again, I guess it’s natural for people to ask if you’re okay when you’ve technically died before.

  I’ve been sitting on the rooftop for about a half hour when I hear the noise. I turn around, ready to tell whoever it is that I want to be alone, when I see Mandy standing there. She’s just standing in the doorway, staring like she’s not sure if it’s safe to come near me. I can see it, you know? In her eyes. The fear. I mean, I’m wearing a black suit of armor and my eyes are glowing red, so I can understand where she’s coming from.

  Anyway, the light in my eyes fade as I switch off my helmet, the whole thing vanishing back into storage. Then I wave her over, to the ledge. “Come on,” I shout at her. “I promise, I won’t let you fall.”

  It takes her a second before she believes I won’t send her flying into the air. Still, she takes her time walking over. That’s when I see something else in her eyes. I recognize it. Intelligence. The girl’s smart. She might look small, since she’s wearing a jacket that’s a little too long and her boots look like they’re going to swallow her legs, but it’s the eyes that get me. The whole time she’s coming my way, she’s sizing me up. Maybe she knows she couldn’t ever fight me, but she keeps looking around, and it’s not just because she’s scared. She’s trying to figure out how she’d get out of here if she had to.

  She finally reaches the ledge and looks down at me. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “I saw you coming in from my window.”

  “Oh yeah? What were you up to?”

  “Nothing. Same things I always do when I get done with homework.”

  “And that would be . . . ?”

  Mandy takes a deep breath. “Try and figure out why we’re stuck here.”

  “Here?”

  “Central Freedom. I remember what it was like, living out there in the Deadlands. I’d never want to go back, but t
his doesn’t feel right either. Things feel like they should be better, and they’re just . . . not.”

  “Is that so? Then, how are things?”

  “You know what it’s like. There’s Creep everywhere. It’s been here for centuries, and nobody’s figured out how to get rid of. People don’t even know where it comes from, but everyone keeps saying that one day we’re going to take back the Deadlands. How are we going to do that? It doesn’t make any sense. Do you get what I mean?”

  To be totally honest, everything she says makes me smile. “You have no idea, kid. I remember thinking about that kind of thing when I was little, too.”

  “Did everyone tell you to stop asking questions like they tell me?”

  That makes me laugh. “You’d be surprised. I probably got told to shut up more than anything else. Asking too many questions gets on people’s nerves.” I pause for a second. “Actually, asking questions where I grew up could have gotten you killed, too.”

  “Wow. Well, I guess I’m happy that things aren’t that bad here.”

  “No, things aren’t that bad here. Actually, I’m a little jealous of how nice things are here compared to where I come from. People can actually live half-decent lives here in Central. But, I do get what you’re saying. The world’s not in great shape. But again, I really need to make it clear just how much better it is living here than back in the Tower.”

  “Mikey’s mentioned it before, but he’s never said a lot about it. I don’t think he likes thinking about it.”

  “Understandable. Imagine living your whole life trapped on a few floors of one building. Now, it was a big building, don’t get me wrong, but we were still cooped up. Out here, you actually get to walk to school and go outside. I didn’t get any of that.”