by Elliot Watts
Delaware smiled. "Roger that, Sergeant."
A moment later he held his finger up to his lips and motioned everyone to follow him. Alpha team passed overhead where the two inmates stood without incidence.
Oddly enough, their object recognition system wouldn't be able to help them spot any hostiles below them due to the walls and ceiling's natural abilities to repel any scanning. This was a built-in feature into outposts like this. It helped repel any covert operations (like the one they were attempting) from succeeding.
They would have to rely on only what was in their immediate area. That's the air vents.
The tunnels were dark. Alpha team's helmets had lighting that could illuminate the way, but in situations like this it was better to use the infrared abilities of their helmets instead. The infrared systems automatically used built-in object tracking and recognition, and it was more accurate than a dim lighting scenario with shadows.
Every soldier loved trusting their gut instinct every chance they could, but the built-in AI in their armored bodysuits sometimes stripped them of that ability. The AI recommended a choice of action for most situations, and statistically, this eliminated the better part of knee-jerk reactions. The Federation Corp. needed their soldiers but trusted their AI.
Non-Commissioned Officers like Staff Sergeant Asher and Sergeant Dixon were all but sworn to uphold the AI's decisions, but couldn't help thinking it's not better to be safe than sorry. Their job was to complete the mission at hand no matter what the cost, but being human was something the AI or the Federation couldn't strip from them.
Asher cared about the lives of his soldiers. He had met their wives, their families and their loved ones. He cringed at the thought of having to inform them that their loved one had been killed in action.
8
Delaware checked his HUD. "ETA five minutes."
"Can I just share I'm grateful we haven't stepped in any of that goop in a while," said Chavez.
"I'm telling you, someone is really slacking off on their PMCS duties," said Johannes.
"Does anyone else hear that? Sounds like something is being dragged," said Chavez.
Alpha team got quiet and strained to hear the sound. Up ahead there was a bend, and the sound was coming from that direction. There was just one path, and it veered off to the right, so there was only one way for them to go. They would have to face whatever was making the noise.
Walker turned to Dixon. "You think they detected we're here Sergeant?"
"Could just be a space rat or something."
"Sounds too inorganic for that. Everyone set your blasters to stun. If we cause too much commotion, it could give away our position." said Asher.
"Or might kill me. If anyone wants to shoot their blasters at full force, be my guest and take lead."
Nobody volunteered. Delaware was a full three meters in front of the rest of the group. Taking point was dangerous, but uncertainty was something that exhilarated him. Especially in situations like this where the enemy was unidentifiable and closing in on them. He didn't want to be accidentally shot in the back. It didn't matter that everyone on his team was an expert marksman, accidents happen.
Delaware was a big guy. He was 6 foot two inches, and last time he weighed, 240 pounds with ripped muscles. He could hold his own.
"I'm gonna take it when it comes around the corner," Delaware strapped his rifle on his back, crouched into position and waited for the enemy.
Behind him, Chavez and Walker were side by side in the prone position with their rifles at ready. The rest of Alpha team crouched behind them with their weapons pointed forward.
Nobody moved a muscle. When the enemy was just around the corner from him, Delaware held his hand up to signal the bogie was almost to his position.
Walker's eyes got wide, and he whispered to Chavez, "There it is."
Delaware sprung into action. He leaped forward and threw his arms around the adversary. "Got it," he called out. He wrestled with the attacker for a moment and then relaxed his grip and turned on his helmet light. It was a robot cleaning unit.
"Now it's clear why this section of the ventilation shafts are so clean," said Johannes.
"But now we've got a new question. What the hell was that goop we kept stepping in?" said Delaware.
"I think the more appropriate question is... who or what made the goop?" said Chavez.
"Only one way to find out," said Dixon.
"Corporal Delaware, let's continue forward. We're almost to where Zulu Team met their fate. Be on the lookout for..." Asher hesitated.
"Real bogies?" interrupted Johannes.
"Haha, real funny, Johannes. Let me know when you want to take lead so you can be the first to come face to face with the goop monster?"
Johannes didn't say a word.
"That's what I thought." Delaware turned around and continued down the air shaft towards their destination.
Asher hated that anyone had to take lead. Being a soldier in the Federation Corp. military was a tough and thankless job. But at that moment he was thankful that the best point he had ever met was forging ahead of them towards an unknown situation and an unknown adversary.
He wondered why the air shafts weren't clean when obviously there were cleaning units that maintained them. That also meant that the goop couldn't possibly be all that old. Was the goop monster real, he thought to himself.
9
Alpha team reached their destination. They huddled around the grate directly above where Zulu team encountered the terrorists.
Delaware got out his flex-cam again, powered it on and wormed it through the grate. The camera finally got into position. It was a mess down there - he strained to assess what he was looking at.
"You're not gonna believe this." Delaware directed the feed to the rest of the teams HUDs.
"Woah, that's a lot of blood down there," said Walker.
"That's for sure. Poor Zulu team," said Johannes.
"Yeah, but where the hell are the bodies?" said Chavez.
They all gasped in realization.
"Dead bodies don't just spring up and walk away," said Dixon.
"Is that goop mixed in with the blood?" said Walker.
"Listen up," Asher said in a hushed tone. "We don't know who or what is down there, but we know damn well what they're capable of. I need everyone to be alert and if it doesn't seem right, speak up. We don't want to end up like Zulu team. I seriously doubt they got up and just walked it off."
"Zombies..." said Walker.
"Are you friggin' serious, Walker? The living dead? Dude, soldiers died and you're making jokes," said Chavez.
"Not cool, Walker," seconded Delaware.
"What else could it be, a space monster, aliens? Did they become infected or something?" said Walker
"They didn't come down with a case of really bad flu - all at the same time, and then bleed out about 4 pints each. Someone attacked them," said Chavez.
"What I can't get is why hide the bodies and leave all the mess behind? It doesn't make any sense," Dixon said.
"I’m with Sergeant Dixon - something is off. This is not the most ideal situation, but zombies and unknown alien intelligent life forms are a stretch," said Asher.
"Agreed," said Dixon.
"Ok, just a recap on the non-paranormal side of things... We can't pull back and our transport floated away. Even if we had comms with the Patriot, we couldn't call for backup because, well, we are the backup," said Delaware.
"Think positive much?" said Chavez.
"That's depressing," said Johannes.
"That sounded a lot more like progress when I thought it in my head," said Delaware.
"Remember, you're trained soldiers in the Federation Corp. military. We'll all come out of this thing alive," Dixon said.
"Let's hop down there and do what we do best," said Asher.
Alpha team replied in a hushed tone, "Hooah."
Chavez turned to Delaware and whispered, "I hope Sergeant knows alive and
alive in pieces aren't the same."
"Me, too," Delaware replied.
10
Johannes removed the grate. There was goop residue still there. He thought about how a human could have done a better job of cleaning this stuff up. Robots had been around a while and still managed not to do everything better than humans. He smiled.
He poked his head down through the hole and swiveled it in all directions. He raised his hand and gave a thumbs up.
Delaware took a deep breath and dropped through the ceiling. He slipped on contact because of the huge amounts of blood and goop on the floor where he landed, but was quick to recover because his AI engaged the gravitational magnets in his boots to ensure a firm footing.
Delaware got down in a crouched position and pointed his rifle straight ahead. The lighting took damage during the attack on Zulu team, only emergency lighting was on in this part of the hall. Even though it was dim, it was too bright for infrared, so Delaware used the light from his helmet and the end of his rifle to inspect around the vicinity.
He cleared the area and said, "Hold your noses when you come down. Better yet, put your visors down it helps with filtering the air."
"Visors down, comms on," said Dixon.
"Ninja stealth mode," said Johannes.
Alpha team put their visors down and dropped in one by one. When they had all landed, Asher said, "Well, I'll be the first to say it... we came up empty with this move. We know nothing more than we did before."
"We could gather up some of this goop and, when we get to the command center, send the sample to the Patriot for analysis," said Walker.
"Smart thinking, PFC, and I like your positive attitude. We've been crawling through the stuff for a while so it should be relatively safe to put some of it in a bag from your sample kit," said Dixon.
Walker scooped up a blob of goop and slopped it into a bag from his sample kit. "Reminds me of the slime I used to make as a kid."
Everybody turned and glared at Walker.
"Thanks for sharing that memory with us. That was just precious," said Chavez.
"What? I used to love that stuff." Walker held up the bag and examined the goop. He jiggled it. "Okay, not so much now. I remember it being more fun."
"We need more intel. Everybody put their rifles on stun. Corporal Delaware and I will take lead. Private Johannes and Sergeant Dixon, take the rear," Asher said.
Alpha team covered a lot of ground without incidents. Asher couldn't think of a time where he had run into a situation like this. He had no experience to rely on. His soldiers were his responsibility. The further they went, the more he feared failing them and worse yet, his family.
What would they do if someone or something killed him in action? Sure, they had lost the ability to be around him but knowing he died was another story all together.
How would they take it? His wife had already been through enough stress with the trial and his being shipped off to a remote penal colony. At least if he was alive, he could send video messages back and forth every few months if he kept his status eligible for good behavior.
This couldn't get any worse, he thought to himself.
Up ahead there was a fork in the path. Either way would take them to the command center. The lights were out on the path to the right. Alpha Team approached the intersection with caution.
"Which way should we go?" said Johannes.
"Well, my vote is for the way that is all lit up," said Walker.
"Why is that?" said Chavez.
"I think I know why," said Johannes.
The others waited for his answer.
"Because in every horror movie some sucker who has to make a decision, kinda like this one, and they choose the wrong path. Because they are inherently stupid and don't realize that evil comes from and lives in the dark," said Johannes.
"Exactly," said Walker.
Delaware laughed. "I didn't realize you guys were such nerds."
"And s-s-s-s-scared of the dark," Chavez play stuttered.
"I just prefer to see where I'm going. I'm not a big fan of infrared vision and relying on a technology so much," said Johannes.
"I agree," said Walker.
At that moment some inmates ambushed them. They came from the path that was lit up and grunted loudly, like prehistoric dwellers, as they charged Alpha Team.
"Ok, I'm ready for the dark side." Walker fired his weapon at an inmate. The blast hit but didn't stop his attacker. The inmate knocked Walker to the ground and jumped on top of him. Walker was face to face with the terrorist and saw the craziness in his eyes.
The rest of Alpha Team fired at the inmates. The terrorists took direct hits and fell to the ground only to jump back up a moment later.
"Switch to full blast mode. Shoot to kill!" Asher ordered.
Asher saw not only inmates attacking them, but base personnel were also in the mix. He couldn't help think these people had friends and family too. What would make them want to charge to their deaths? he thought.
Alpha Team fired away at the attackers. The blasters were a little more effective than stun, but not much. The attackers kept coming.
The inmate had Walker pinned to the floor. He snapped at Walker like he was trying to bite him. "Somebody, get this thing off me!" Walker couldn't escape the inmates grip as it inched closer to his face.
The inmate went in for the kill but met the butt end of Delaware's rifle. With a snap, the inmate's head jerked back unnaturally too far and didn't return to its normal position. The inmate flopped over and lay motionless on the floor.
"That's it," said Delaware. "Aim for their heads. Don't shoot till you see the whites of their eyes."
Chavez stood motionless with her rifle aimed at one attacker as he charged. The attacker leaped at her as she fired. She landed a fatal shot to his head. "One shot, one kill."
An inmate charged towards Dixon. He popped the bayonet out of the barrel end of his rifle and rammed it through his attacker's head and stopped it in its tracks.
Alpha Team took down the last two attackers.
Walker spoke up first, "Super obvious what we have here... zombies."
Chavez rolled her eyes.
"I got up close and personal with that thing. The guy reeked and if it was human before, it isn't now," Walker said.
"Goop is just oozing out of the bodies. Like they are decomposing at a fast rate," said Johannes.
"I guess we know where it comes from now," said Dixon.
"Yeah, but zombies? They could just be lit on narcotics or something," Chavez said.
"All of them? Acting that crazy? And why didn't they have any weapons?" Walker said.
"All valid questions," said Asher. "To be honest, I don't have any answers. All I know is that we've gotta keep pushing forward."
Asher paced back and forth, and for the first time in his military career, something scared him. Taking down terrorists was one thing, but fast moving biting zombies was another thing. He didn't believe in the living dead, but he knew what he saw. These things took multiple full powered blaster shots to the body and kept moving. Alpha Team could handle a handful, but what if more came... a lot more?
"Everyone check your gear. Get ready to move," said Asher.
11
"Check this out," said Delaware.
Asher shined his rifle light in the direction that Delaware was looking.
"What the frig is that?" said Chavez.
Walker stumbled back. "I know what it is."
"Ok numbnuts, what is it?" said Chavez.
"Well, we've got slime, and a decomposing body that's connected to some pulsating sack... Aliens meets The Walking Dead." Walker gestured his hand from left to right as if he read a theater marquee sign.
"21st century horror movies? That's your answer?" Delaware poked at the dead body with the tip of his rifle.
"What else could it be?" Johannes alternated looking at the scene in front of them and scanning the darkness where they had just come from.
&n
bsp; "That doesn't look right." Dixon looked over his shoulder at the scene.
"The uniform," said Asher.
"That's a soldier from Zulu team," said Dixon.
"I call dibs on the discovery of whatever this shit is. Oh my god, do you realize that this is first contact? I'm gonna take a selfie with this thing." Walker kneeled down next to the body. He positioned himself close to the pod and smiled as he held up his wrist cam. The flash from the camera stirred something in the pod.
Walker jumped back when he heard the pod make a pop and hiss sound. It opened like a flower. "Did you see that?"
Everyone pointed their rifles at the pod. From the top of the pod a slimy stamen looking thing extended out. It moved like a time lapse video in fast motion. The black stringy stamen looking thing uncurled its tip and shot itself like the tongue of a chameleon lizard. When it struck the ground, the goop held it down. Root like strings emerged from the contact point.
Alpha Team gawked at the scene. They couldn't believe their eyes. Had they discovered an alien life form?
Asher was amazed but worried at the same time. “If anyone captured this species, with substantial effort someone could turn it into a bio weapon. We've gotta destroy it.”
"Can't we keep it?" said Walker.
Chavez sighed. "It's not a pet, Walker. It's a killing machine."
"Sergeant and Specialist Chavez have a point," said Johannes. "This thing killed Zulu Team."
"We don't know for sure," said Walker.
"Walker, this thing conceivably killed everybody on this rock for all we know and... Holy shit, is it cloning the guy from Zulu team?" Delaware points at their discovery.
Alpha Team looked on as the blob on the floor took shape. It was taking the shape of a human.
"All the more reason to keep one," Walker examined the blob. "Think of the medical applications of this. They could grow new limbs... new organs. It could give people that had no chance before a new start on life. 2253 - I knew for sure they would have 3D printed body parts by now."