by Tara Basi
“Twelve hours,” Battery Boy said, and then settled down with his back to one of the horrible exposed tree roots, as Mina had come to think of them.
Each root was a perfect rectangle that vanished below the floor. The root walls were transparent, and inside Mina could see they were filled with a grey sludge streaked with disturbing veins of pink. As they had tramped through the Yard some of the roots would randomly light up and the contents would visibly move downwards. No more than ten spaces separated one root from another. The whole floor of the Yard seemed to be filled with roots. After walking for hours there were always more ahead, and on every side.
At the start of their journey, at the west wall of the Yard, the roots rose up out of the floor and curved inwards to meet at a giant oblong structure, like a junction box for some gargantuan wiring system. The box, sitting hundreds of metres above their heads, was made of the same transparent material as the roots and filled with the same muck. Kilometres separated the Yard walls and the sides of the box and yet it was still huge. Above the box the Yard walls sloped outwards, increasing the space available for a strange growth of thick branching structures, more massive than the roots. Mina was frightened of looking too closely at what lay beyond the roots, what she could see in front of her was horrible enough.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before,” Mina asked Battery Boy, raising her eyebrows to indicate the vast space above her.
“Kind of. We got into the Block following a path under the roots. Beneath each one of these things,” he answered, slapping the smooth flat surface of the rectangular root he was leaning against, “is a bottomless pit, same shape.”
“That’s right, and that nasty glop stuff, inside, see?” Stuff added pointing at the grey-pink mucus collecting in the bottom of the root, “A light comes on, like we’ve seen up here and it flops out, like rotten custard, straight down the pit.”
“Nothing wrong with glop, kept me going. You get used to the smell,” Pinkie
added, giving Stuff an angry look.
“Underneath? Then there’s a way out. Trinity you heard that?” Mina asked, suddenly animated by the prospect of escaping the Yard.
“Old news, doors won’t open for us, not yet anyway. Can you just shut up and let me do my thing. You could be a scientist you know and stop staring at your feet, we were sent to find out what’s going on, you can’t just ignore uncomfortable stuff,” Trinity answered, with undisguised irritation.
“What’s it mean, uncomfortable, are you ignoring me?” Stuff asked Mina, looking hurt.
“It doesn’t mean you, it was telling me off, and Trinity’s right, I need to start doing my job,” Mina answered with a warm smile. “Listen, can you tell me any more about where your parents are, where you come from?”
“I’d like a mummy,” Stuff said, looking wistfully at Mina. “I kinda have a dad,” Stuff added, nodding towards Battery Boy who was busy with Jugger tallying their supplies.
“What happened to yours?” Mina asked, surprised by Stuff’s answer.
“It doesn’t work like that anymore.”
“How does it work?” Mina asked, trying not to look as shocked as she felt.
“We’re all… Block kids.”
“Where were you born?” Mina pressed, knowing Stuff’s was getting upset but desperate for answers.
“School. School was nice, lots of food, grass, trees… and we had vid screens.”
“Where was this school, who were the teachers?” Mina asked, trying to keep calm and let Stuff tell his own story in his own way.
“Outside, near the fence. Someone said there were twenty schools, around the Block.” As Stuff said the word Block his smile faded and his eyes turned down.
“Teachers?” Mina gently asked.
“It wasn’t like the old schools in the vids. We taught ourselves and on our tenth birthday we got wedded to the Block, and got our Band.”
“Wedded? Band?”
“What was your school like?” Stuff asked, looking up at Mina as his eyes starting to mist up.
Mina realised Stuff didn’t want to talk about his past anymore. She stopped asking questions and spent time telling him about her childhood in Pune, and life in India when she was a kid. He seemed fascinated but Stuff’s questions always came back to how long she had expected to live when she was a kid, and it made her shiver.
After a while they both fell silent and Stuff wandered away to help Battery Boy. Mina thought again about Trinity’s rebuke and it actually made her feel a little better. She had to learn everything she could about the Block. Steeling herself she pulled out her notebook and started to record what she’d already seen. Even if she had wanted to forget, the memory bruised her brain. Getting up she walked painfully away from the children for some privacy while she tried to get her own thoughts in order. Sweet though he could sometimes be, Stuff’s incessant questions were a huge distraction.
Mina began recording her observations starting with the forest of roots all around them, then turned her attention to what they were supporting.
Whereas the roots supporting the box were hypnotically symmetrical the limbs above the junction box curved, twisted and divided as they headed up, towards the roof. It looked almost organic, like a crystal tree or a weird bird’s nest. On the way up a myriad of thinner tendrils snaked out horizontally and vanished into the Yard wall. The whole structure was transparent and didn’t seem to be carrying the grey slime in the roots. Even so, the sheer mass of twisting limbs above the junction box blocked Mina’s line of sight to any higher structures closer to the roof.
It was not just the impossible size, the alien shape and the ugly organics of the growth that made the whole edifice so chilling, it was the myriad of dark specks that could be vaguely discerned hanging inside every tendril, branch and main trunk, as though suspended in a transparent gel, like vanilla seeds. The distribution of the tiny specks suggested they were coming out of the Yard walls, along the thinner tendrils, into the branches and on towards the main trunks. It was at the trunks that the specks collected, discolouring long stretches. In places the tree was almost blackened with thick clouds of the particles. The dark mass appeared to be flowing upwards.
Mina couldn’t actually discern any movement. It was only the gradual increase in the size, density and frequency of the dark smudges higher up the tree structures that suggested a direction of flow. The higher she looked the darker the scene became, and it frightened her but she couldn’t say exactly why. There were other, more obvious movements, where the concentration of dark spots was at their greatest. At these points, a thick, sickly brown fume swirled around the boles, like acrid smoke. Thinner brown wisps danced slowly and purposefully around the tendrils connected to the Yard wall, where they met the branch structures of the crystal tree. They could almost be wind swept leaves, swirling amongst the branches, except there was no wind and no leaves on the floor.
Mina could interpret what she was seeing in many ways, she could guess at what the grotesque growth above her was doing but she didn’t really know. Everything was too far away, the only detail she could see was the roots. Staring intently at the nearest she carefully studied the contents. The sludge was just that, a thick grey viscous liquid, with streaks of pink that were random but frequent. If it had ever been something else, something solid, there was nothing left of the original shape. There seemed to be no difference in consistency between the pink and grey components. Would it be better, or worse, if a human skull suddenly appeared out of the gunk and bumped against the transparent wall?
“What are you doing?” Battery Boy asked, making Mina jump.
“I’m trying to understand what all this is,” Mina answered, looking up.
“Why now, because of what Trinity said?” Battery Boy asked, quietly curious.
“Yes, it’s what I’m here for, to investigate, find out what these Blocks are doing,” Mina answered, turning to face Battery Boy.
“And?”
“People
didn’t make this.”
“What did?”
“We’ll find out, maybe your friend Tress has some answers.”
“Is Trinity looking for Tress?” Battery Boy asked, suddenly animated.
“First things first, a way out, then my friends. If we can, we’ll find Tress,” Mina answered with a smile, and hugged a startled Battery Boy. In that moment she realised what these kids had been going through all of their young lives. She had no right to feel frightened or sorry for herself.
“Good and bad news,” Trinity announced, making Mina jump in surprise.
“Any news will do,” Mina said with relief.
“Listen very carefully. Reference is sending a clean-up squad, whatever that means. You need to get out of here. Go east, count off twelve roots and then turn north, go straight ahead for two kilometres, and you’ll find a door set into the floor, it’s the only one I could open. Go down the stairs and wait. Understand?” Trinity asked.
Before Mina could even react to Trinity’s message Pinkie was flying towards her screaming abuse, her tiny fists balled and her little face contorted in a mix of terror and rage. Battery Boy grabbed her around the waist and picked her up off the ground before she got to launch herself at Mina.
“You cow, you’re working for Worry, that’s where you want to take us. I’m going to kill you,” Pinkie screamed at Mina as she flailed powerlessly in Battery Boy’s steely grip.
“She’s trying to help us, just calm down,” Battery said to the still wriggling Pinkie locked in his arms.
“She knows what she’s doing, leave her alone,” Stuff shouted at Pinkie before turning to Mina, “That’s right isn’t it, you do know?”
“Don’t know anything about this Worry character, I’m not going to hurt you Pinkie, I’m just trying to get us somewhere safe, out of this place,” Mina said, looking directly at Pinkie, hoping the emaciated little girl would believe her and calm down.
“You better not be lying, or I’ll, what’s that? You hear that, a high pitched whine? It’s coming from up there,” Pinkie pointed up towards the giant branches, she paused, looked down at the floor, concentrating, then she looked up again and she looked worried, “it’s coming fast.”
“I can’t hear anything,” Mina answered, looking up.
“She’s got good hearing, really good,” Battery Boy said.
“Run,” Trinity shouted.
“What you all waiting for, run,” Battery Boy shouted, while gathering up his things.
In seconds the children had gathered up their gear and Mina’s and headed off in the direction Trinity had indicated. Minutes later Mina was lagging behind. After another twenty she knew she was going to collapse, she just couldn’t keep up; her whole body was wracked with pain and she could hardly breathe.
Battery Boy must have heard her gasping and turned to look back.
“Jugger, wait, not you two, keep running,” Battery Boy called out. Pinkie and Stuff ran on as Jugger, reluctantly, slowed and then stopped. Mina was on her knees, gasping for breath as the two boys stood over her.
“She’s done for, take her gear,” Jugger coldly said.
Mina was shocked and then angry at Jugger, she wanted to shout in protest but she just couldn’t get her breath, as she desperately searched for the gun in her pocket.
“No, we need her. You carry her, I’ll take your stuff,” Battery Boy insisted. Jugger hesitated, obviously weighing up options. As Mina finally found the butt of the gun she remembered both boys were armed as well.
“OK,” Jugger said.
The two boys pulled Mina to her feet, Battery Boy took Jugger’s gear and then, with Battery Boy’s help she climbed onto Jugger’s back, her legs hooked through his arms, piggyback style. Even though she was pressed tightly against Jugger, it didn’t feel intimate, she was unwanted baggage.
“Keep an eye on our backs and get your gun ready,” Jugger said over his shoulder, as though he’d completely forgotten he’d wanted to leave her for dead only moments before.
The boys powered off after Pinkie and Stuff. Mina steadied herself as best she could against Jugger’s back. Her whole body was being jerked around as Jugger ran on, seemingly oblivious to her weight. As Mina got her breath back and gradually learned to relax her muscles and stop fighting Jugger’s motions she became more comfortable and was able to take in what was going on.
Pinkie was still quite a way ahead when Jugger and Battery Boy caught up with Stuff.
“Whatever’s chasing us is scaring her more than Worry,” Battery Boy said to Jugger. Mina was amazed they could keep up this pace and still find the breath to speak.
“You see anything? Your gun ready?” Jugger hissed at Mina over his shoulder.
Mina realised she hadn’t been looking or primed her weapon. Taking the gun in hand she carefully dialled up a scattergun effect, hooked an arm tightly around Jugger’s neck, leaned away from his body and turned her head to look back the way they’d come. It was as if she was riding shotgun on an ancient Wild West stagecoach, waiting for the whooping Red Indians to appear over the hill.
“Nothing’s behind us. Wait, wait.” Something caught Mina’s eye, way in the distance, descending out of the canopy.
“What is it?” Jugger demanded, as he closed on Pinkie.
Mina could see a small wisp of the dirty brown smoke high up in the roots; it was deliberately winding downward and heading directly towards them. The brown cloud was moving fast but still some way off.
“Something is coming. It looks like smoke. I think we have about fifteen minutes before it catches up,” Mina guessed, praying it was enough to get to the door before whatever it was caught them.
“Old woman, you’d better keep whatever it is off our backs, or I’m dropping you and going for my own gun,” Jugger whispered over his shoulder.
“Drop my friend and there won’t be no door, shit-head,” Trinity answered before Mina could react to Jugger.
“I’ll take my chances,” Jugger hissed, not the least bit cowed by Trinity’s threat.
“Shut up and run, I’ve got your back,” Mina interjected, strangely pleased that Trinity had called her “friend”.
As the smoke got nearer Mina could start to see the vague shape of individual particles, there were lots of them. Her heart started beating double time. It was a swarm not a cloud. No point distracting the others with a running commentary, she just kept tracking the swarm, trying to stay calm, detached, waiting till they got close enough to start blasting away. For her to be able to make out individual shapes at this distance meant they were big, whatever they were.
After another moment she could just detect the vague outline of individuals. They looked like insects. She could see humming gossamer wings, long bodies, trailing legs. Mina checked her gun again. The scatter shot was the right setting, the swarm would be forced down the narrow gap between the trunks and she would have a good chance of hitting lots of them with one shot, but what exactly were they, what kind of insect?
It was a horrible feeling of helplessness, just watching, not moving quite quickly enough, as something worse than any nightmare got closer and closer. There was nothing she could do about it, only wait till they got near enough to shoot them. Mina was in no doubt she should fire first and worry about their intentions later. Her skin was crawling, her heart racing. Then, almost without her noticing, they were on her.
She just had time to shout at Jugger, “Brace yourself,” before firing. The scatter shot blast knocked the four leading monstrosities out of the air to crash into the roots and fall to the ground. Instantly five more were right behind her. They were mosquitoes, dog-sized mosquitoes, whining that hideous whine; proboscises outstretched sniffing for her warm blood. Mina hated mosquitoes. They had always made her skin erupt with cold clammy sweat. The thought of their mouths sucking her blood made her feel ill. These hideous creatures were huge. Her stomach cramped with dread. Mina fired and fired again. The insects crashed and fell, to be replaced by more.
>
“Run, run,” Mina shouted at Jugger.
Battery Boy would spin around occasionally and fire but he couldn’t keep doing it and keep up. They were all relying on Mina to keep the horde at bay. She was trying to control her fear, aiming carefully, hitting as many as possible with each shot. One got past, flew directly over her head and then she heard Stuff scream. She glanced quickly forward and saw a shrieking Stuff struggling with one of the creatures as Battery Boy rushed forward to drag it off him.
That momentary distraction was costly. Mina turned back to find a hideous brown mosquito only metres away, almost a third of her size, covered in ugly spiny hairs, trailing dangling hard legs, staring at her with faceted cold eyes. She froze in panic as it flew directly towards her, low and fast. The giant insect skimmed in just above the ground, then arched suddenly upwards to smack into her and fasten its limbs around her hips. In slow time she watched, frozen, as it plunged its sharp mouth parts right through her clothes and into the flesh of her thigh, just behind where Jugger was holding her leg. The creature immediately started to suck out her blood at an alarming rate. The momentum of the parasite’s attack knocked Jugger forwards, sending him sprawling to the ground, taking Mina with him. The sharp, almost electric pain of the bite and the sudden lurch towards the ground dragged her out of her paralysis and she started firing again at their pursuers, ignoring the bloodsucker draining her. She’d hit Jugger, herself or both if she shot it.
Rolling over and over, still holding on to Jugger the mosquito on her hips was squashed by their combined weights, eventually losing its grip, splattering her blood everywhere from its smashed abdomen. Jugger was quickly on his feet pulling her roughly up before throwing Mina over his shoulder, and dashed past Battery Boy.
“Keep firing, the door is just ahead,” Battery Boy screamed as he fired off two more rounds before turning to run after them.
Mina lifted her head from Jugger’s back to see an insect’s face almost kissing hers. She fired, splattering the thing’s head in all directions. Wiping the insect’s brains from her face she fired again, and they just kept coming. Mina looked to her right and saw Pinkie sprawled on the ground, face down. A giant blood sucker was squatting on Pinkie’s back drinking from her neck. Before Mina could even aim her gun, Battery Boy kicked the monster off Pinkie and stamped on its head. In a heartbeat he’d grabbed her up under his arm and was running alongside Mina and Jugger. All around their heads the hideous vampires swarmed, trying to seize hold and drink. Mina fired her last scattergun shot knocking four more out of the air. She desperately fumbled with the butt and switched to single bullets, picking off as many as she could get in her sights. She was missing more than she was hitting and however many she hit the fallen were quickly replaced.
