Floor 21- Dark Angel

by Jason Luthor

  “Oh, of course. I, the great military tactician, Erin Donoghue, who’s never led a major military operation in his life.”

  I put a hand on his shoulder and look him right in the eyes. “Do you really want our people going out there against Fort Silence without any kind of advantages, Erin?”

  The scowl across his face deepens as he looks away. “Just my luck to fall in with Ishara first, then the likes of you. Fine. You win. I’ll be your backup.”

  “I think you mean my second in command. Don’t you think that sounds better?”

  “Commander Donoghue . . . Doesn’t matter if it sounds better. It’ll be a pain in my ass either way.”

  Personal Recording of Devleena Kumar 10

  Red days and black nights. That’s normal life in the Deadlands. Some days we get the sun shining through more than normal, and the world looks a little less like it has a red tint on everything. Whenever the Creep thins out, the sun always shines through a little more. Nighttime’s dark no matter where you are, though. Every now and then though, with the cold winds whipping through the city, we get concrete colored skies and a blue haze over everything, even if it doesn’t last long.

  It’s weird to think about living out in the Deadlands with a bunch of raiders. Wait, no, we’re calling them the Sha’b. Anyway, I don’t have anything personal against them. They didn’t kill my family or hurt me when I was a kid. It’s just that we’ve just fought each other for what feels like forever. I guess it says a lot that Heave Metal’s been able to bring us all together.

  Which, again, doesn’t mean I’m used to it. At one point during the night, I’m standing on one side of a barrel that’s got a fire burning in it, and Erin’s just feet away from me. This is someone who’s been labelled a terrorist and whose people I’ve fought more than once, but there the both of us are, just trying to stay warm. I guess he notices me staring, because he looks my way with a scowl.

  “I got something on my face?” he asks with a twist in his lips.

  “No. I was just thinking that all of this is really bizarre. You know it’s bizarre, right?”

  He chuckles. “A walking tin can from Fort Silence, a second-rate fighter from the Deadlands, and a metal statue from Central Freedom,” he says with a grin at Heavy Metal before looking back my way. “What a motley crew we make.”

  “It’s just not something I ever expected.”

  “For what it’s worth, I’m in perfect agreement with you.”

  I take a look over at the Angel. “I’m guessing there isn’t any sort of ancient wisdom you have to share with the rest of us?”

  Saying that gets a smile out of her. “Ancient wisdom? I’m not that old. Not yet, anyway.”

  “I just mean that you’ve been in a lot of these big fights by now. You have, right?”

  “A few. The Battle for Central Freedom was probably the biggest. The raid on the Panzer was basically as big, when you think about how much firepower was brought in and all of the Creepers that attacked. Truthfully, I think that I’ve usually been in smaller fights. The kind of fights when you’re sticking your nose where it shouldn’t go around the Deadlands.”

  “Okay, then what’s the toughest fight you ever had?”

  “Probably the one where I died.” She laughs when she says it, which is weird to me. She has to see I’m looking at her funny, because she holds up a hand. “Just so you get what happened, I died, technically, to a Creep infected person named Judge. I’m still alive because I got infected by the Creep before that happened. It took a while, but eventually I regenerated. I mean, I think it was something like a couple of months before I woke up. The rest’s pretty much history. After that, I could heal like crazy. That’s why I can take so many hits. It’s not just the armor.”

  “What this Judge guy some sort of Creep junkie? One of those splicers who pumps themselves with the Creep trying to get powers?”

  “No. I’ve never actually met anyone like that outside of the Tower, although I’ve heard about them. I know there’s some data in the files the Tank left me that talk about them, but I haven’t had a chance to look through all of that information yet. The whole idea that people would shoot themselves up with the Creep is crazy though. I’ve seen people do it to get a high, and I’ve seen people try to purposely bond with it using science. Either way, you’re almost guaranteed to become a mindless zombie eventually.”

  Erin interrupts. “That’s almost exactly what happens in every case. Maybe not the first injection or even the fifth, but it eventually comes around. Anyway, this Judge character . . .”

  “Right,” she picks up. “It’s hard to describe without getting into a lot of it. I’m from a Tower. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen one of them. They’re not like skyscrapers. They’re more like . . .”

  “They’re huge,” Erin adds.

  “You’ve seen one?” She sounds surprised. “In real life?”

  “Travel as much as I did, and you see some incredible things. Yeah, I remember it. It was a whole to-do. Stumbled into some of the most heavily infested areas I’ve ever seen in my life. Skyscrapers around Central are impressive, but not like this. Not like what I saw. It was a building so tall it put all others to shame, but it wasn’t impressive just because it was tall. The thing had to be the size of a city block at least.”

  I nod at him. “You hear rumors from some of the pilots back home about these huge buildings in the distance. I’m not talking about normal big. I’m talking about . . . big. Huge.”

  The Angel takes in a deep breath. “That’s because they were made a long time ago to keep people alive in case things got too bad out here. I’ve never seen another one personally. At least, not one I think was ever actually used. I’m not sure any others even have anyone alive inside of them.”

  Erin shakes his head. “The one I saw looked dead, like a ghost of itself. No lights or anything else like it inside.”

  “Yeah. I think my Tower just got lucky and we managed to survive.” She stops and smiles. “Maybe lucky’s not the right word for it. It was infested with Creep, and we were trapped on the top floors, just trying to get by. We’d scavenge the bottom floors and . . . Well, that’s exactly how I got out of the Tower. I fought my way below until we finally got out. Before that though, I had to fight . . . I don’t even know how to explain it. How do you explain a five-hundred-year-old superpowered Creeper with enough strength to barrel through walls, instantly heal from almost any wound, and control the Creep? Also, I probably shouldn’t forget to mention that he had a skull for a face.”

  That makes me chuckle a little. “Super strength and the ability to heal right away? So, he was basically just an uglier version of you.”

  “You don’t know what’s underneath this mask though. I might be horribly disfigured under here.”

  “Maybe one day I’ll earn the privilege of getting to see beneath the helmet.”

  Erin chuckles. “Angel, didn’t you say something about how it’s best to let other people know who they’re fighting with?”

  There’s a long moment where she doesn’t say anything. She just nods to Erin before looking over at me, her hand going to the side of her head and a wave of light passing down her face. Her helmet disappears, and suddenly, I’m staring at a girl whose, well, younger than I thought she would be? I look over at Erin, but he doesn’t say anything. So, we’re just standing there in silence for a second before I finally blurt out, “I thought you would be older.”

  She laughs. “Thanks, I guess. I’m Jackie Coleman, by the way. You can keep calling me Heavy Metal or the Dark Angel, or whatever. I must have half a dozen names across the Deadlands by now.”

  I’m still in shock as I look at her. Seven feet tall with the kind of power that could stop a tank, but she looks like a rookie. “I just . . . I didn’t realize . . . And here I was complaining about having to lead the troopers out here into the Deadlands. You . . .”

  Erin looks from me to Jackie. “She’s out here trying to bring toget
her hundreds of thousands of soldiers for a cause worth dying for? Yeah, makes you feel like you could be doing a bit more with yourself.”

  Jackie smiles. “You didn’t act too surprised the first time you saw me without the helmet, Erin.”

  “Lady, I’ve seen you bring down holy hell on entire armies, so I’m not about to start second doubting you now.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Her eyes shift to me. “And you, Kali?”

  “I’m . . . surprised, but I don’t doubt you. I’m even more impressed by you than I was just a few days ago. But I mean, why show me your face now?”

  For a long time, she stands there, just staring into the fire, before she finally says anything. “The helmet, the armor . . . It makes for a great show. It scares people. When I first started wearing it, I needed to make my enemies hesitate whenever I showed up. At the time, I just really wanted revenge. It wasn’t until the last couple of months that I realized I was using the armor to intimidate the wrong people. It became my way of distancing myself.” A little smile lifts on her lips, but her eyes look sad. “I even did that to the people I should have trusted, and I made a lot of bad decisions because I was so distanced from everyone. I’ve always been pretty insecure, so it’s really easy for me to think that people don’t trust me, let alone like me.”

  Her eyes go to us. “We haven’t known each other that long, and the fact that you’re trusting me to lead this fight means a lot. But I’ve also got to trust you, too. Trusting people is a decision, and for me, that starts with showing you my face. I know, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but to me it is. So, to answer your question, I’m showing you my face because I need to make a choice to trust you back. I don’t want to wear the mask anymore. At least, not outside of a fight.”

  It’s impossible to miss how sad she looks. “You okay there, Heavy Metal?”

  “Just lately, I’ve been thinking that I spent too much time trying to intimidate my enemies instead of inspiring people. All that time in Central really made me realize why I’m fighting. Even talking to Ishara . . . She’s the one who said I was being a dog of war for Yousef. If you’re going to change things in the world around you, then you have to start inspiring people. That means I have to start being Jackie Coleman more often, especially when it comes to the people who are just trying to make lives for themselves out here.”

  “So, what’s that all mean? You give up the armor eventually?”

  “No. It means I stop hiding from everyone once the fighting’s over. I start leading from the light instead of scaring everyone from the dark. That’s why I’m putting my mask away for tonight. When it come to the fight, to us all being in that mess together, it’s Jackie Coleman who’s fighting for the people she cares about. The Dark Angel’s a symbol, and symbols are powerful, but it’s the wrong symbol to use all the time. It’s the wrong symbol to use in front of you two and everyone who’s decided to fight on our side. It’s wrong for me to just be this symbol of fear in front of the people who’ve decided to trust me to lead them. Out here, away from the fight, people need to know there’s a person behind the mask who’s going to fight for them, no matter if I live or die through it all.”

  I can’t say anything. Erin is the one who breaks the silence this time. “I knew it. Knew there was a reason I trusted you when I had no reason to. You’ve got Ishara’s heart, I’ll say as much.”

  “Well, let’s just hope it’s enough to get us the win in a few days.”

  Jackie’s Recording 39

  We’re there another night as we wait for Ned to bring in the last of the raiders. Thanks to the transportation network the Sha’b created during their time under Ishara and Tara, they can move even a hundred thousand people quickly, which is important. I mean, they might be able to move that many people, but it doesn’t mean they have the supplies to keep them fed for long. This is the kind of operation that’s all in. We either win at Fort Silence and resupply through Central, or we have to retreat, hungry, through the Deadlands. I don’t think a lot of people will make it home if there’s a retreat.

  With the weather warming up for at least one night, I head out into the streets. The Sha’b have taken possession of every building for blocks around, setting up repulsion poles to push off any Creep. Though, to be honest, most of the Creep’s pulled back in the month since Mike destroyed the Northwest Creep Colony. Out there in the streets, I ditch the armor and just walk around in the officer’s uniform that President Branagh gave me, trying to talk to different people and convince them that yes, I actually am the person who’s normally seven feet tall and wearing black metal death.

  The streets are lit up with trash cans that are burning with fires inside, people sitting around in camps as they talk and laugh. At some point as I’m wandering around, a noise catches my ear, and I can’t help but start gravitating to a particularly large group. They’re not Sha’b. I can tell by their uniforms. The uniforms are from Fort Silence, so I recognize the group as the DEC troopers before I see the empty Zero-One power suit standing watch over them. What really gets my attention is the music coming out of the suit’s speaker that’s normally used for broadcasting the wearer’s voice.

  Of course, I have to find out what’s going on, so I wander up to the edge of the circle, my eyes going wide as I spot everyone clapping along to the beat. Then a bass sound starts kicking in with the music, and quickfire drums start picking the song up faster and faster. The beat, drums, and clapping all wash together as I stand around the fire. In the middle of that circle though is Kali, her massive uniform off. She’s wearing a weird combo, her sports bra exposing everything below her rib cage but with this long dress hugging her hips and falling to her feet. It’s . . . flashy, with sequins, and her feet are only wearing sandals as she spins around the fire to the beat, her toes bracing on the ground as her hips pop to the bass, her fingers dancing through the air. Across from her is Belinda Torres and some men from the team, looking a lot less graceful but still trying to move to the beat. One of Kali’s hands extends out to Torres while the other trails up her arm, the beat breaking and Kali clapping three times to pounding drums that punctuate the song. Then she’s spinning around the fire, her dress twirling in huge circles as she makes a half circle inside of the crowd, her face turning to me and her fingers pointing my way.

  “Want to dance?” she laughs as I’m staring at her.

  “Hell no,” I say. I’m smiling but I can still feel my cheeks burning. “I’m terrible.”

  She shrugs as she goes back into her dance, her hips still swinging with the drums and her fist swinging through the air while her other arm extends to the crowd. With the beat reaching its peak, her arms swing up and her hands clap with the drums, everyone around her doing the same. Then the song cuts out and gets replaced by another, everyone laughing as they take seats on the ground. Kali motions to Torres, who motions to her back, before she steps out of the circle. She immediately waves me on.

  “Well, if you don’t want to dance, why don’t we take a walk?”

  “Sure,” I tell her with a shrug. “You can tell me what all that was back there. And what the hell are you wearing?”

  “This?” she says with a laugh as we’re walking off into the night. “Just something I dance in. The top got destroyed a long time ago, but I’ve managed to hold onto the dress. My mother had one like it. She also gave me the music you just heard. I don’t know all the details, but from what I know, this music used to be common a long time ago. A lot of culture survived the Old World, just in bits in pieces. Well, this is what got passed down to me.”

  “Dancing and dressing like a queen? I guess even Erin had his wake and all that dancing.”

  “Different cultures but they’re all amazing. You didn’t have anything like that back home?”

  I laugh a little. “I grew up being told not to enjoy life too much. Ask too many questions, get too curious, and you’d get punished. We had a religion that was all about waiting for the mythical Builders of the T
ower to come back and rescue us. But . . . most of our history was erased. All we had were movies from back before the Tower. So, I do recognize stuff here and there. Little pieces of religion and culture that I saw in films. I just didn’t have much of that myself.”

  “My mother always taught me that even though we didn’t have lots of our culture left over, what we had was still important. The song I was dancing to was about trying to get a woman to love you. The dancing has apparently been happening since who even knows when in history. Plus, that cool picture on my armor? The goddess with the multiple arms? That’s where I get my nickname. Kali, divine protector and destroyer of evil.”

  “A friend of mine, Cynthia, once told me that people take their culture with them wherever they live. Doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances.”

  “I’d say that’s right. Culture’s important because it anchors us, you know? It helps us remember what’s important to us and why. So, for me, and actually for the whole team, our culture’s all about enjoying life. You’re leading us out there to fight, and we’re all willing to die for what we believe in, but we’d all rather live. But, if we’re going to die, we’d at least like to enjoy our last night before it happens.”

  “I get it. That’s why you’re all having fun over there while I’m walking around looking like a wet blanket.”

  The light from a nearby fire catches her eyes as she laughs. “You do kind of like moping around. But, then again, I’m not exactly the person who’s gotten the Sha’b, the Central Freedom militia, and DEC troopers from Fort Silence to all fight on the same side. That’s a lot of pressure, but you should still stop and at least enjoy what you’re fighting for.”

  “I really should.” We stop in the middle of the street, and I look back down the way we’ve come, at all the fires dotting the streets. People are huddled around them for blocks and blocks and blocks, just laughing and talking. “Remember how I said I had to learn how to trust people if they were going to trust me?”