by G J Ogden
“Maria, trust me. Give him a chance,” Page urged again.
Maria bowed her head and closed her eyes, fighting the urge to leap over the barricade. “Okay, Karl, we do it your way. But if this doesn’t work, I’m still going out there.”
Page picked up Maria’s sidearm and held it out to her. “Look, if this doesn’t work, I’m going out there with you. Right until the very end, remember?”
Chapter 31
Ethan was ten meters from Summer when Ann Kurren came careering down the street with her two sons in tow, surprising everyone. He looked at Summer and she looked back, briefly, before tearing her eyes away and staring down at the smooth black surface under her feet. Ethan wanted to call out to her, to ask if she was okay, but another figure drew his attention. It was Lieutenant Nurem, who had flipped his visor up so that his face was visible.
“Hold it right there!” he called out to Ann Kurren, aiming his rifle at her.
Ann Kurren stopped, pushing her sons back behind her, and then attempted to stand tall, but her muscles were flushed full of adrenalin and she quivered, unable to hold any position for longer than a second or two. Ann glanced at Nurem, but then looked past him to her husband. “James, please stop this,” said Ann, the strain in her voice causing the words to sound fractured. “We’ll come back if you just stop this. Enough people have died already.”
Kurren looked back at her, but the words just washed over him. Ethan looked at the General’s face; the sudden appearance of his wife and sons had barely registered, and it was like he was staring out at complete strangers. Kurren’s silence only deepened the tense atmosphere, which was thick with apprehension and uncertainly. The clack of armored boots shifting uneasily on the hard street echoed around them, like a pack of maddened wolves, circling and waiting for the moment to strike.
Kurren’s behavior wasn’t the only thing about him that seemed strange. Even after five years, Ethan had never forgotten Kurren’s cold, vengeful eyes from their final encounter on the space station, but these were not the eyes of the man he remembered. The change was subtle, and only a planetsider would recognize it, but Ethan had looked into eyes like these before. They were the eyes of a roamer; the eyes of someone who was already in the grip of the Maddening. Ethan knew in that moment that Kurren would not stop until he got what he wanted; nothing else would matter to him and no-one would stand in his way, not even his own family.
Ethan glanced back at Summer, who was still looking down, shoulders hunched, and he felt his gut twist at the thought of what they might have done to break her spirit. But that would have to wait; he needed to find a way out of the mess he had blindly rushed into. A way out for himself, Summer and Ann Kurren and her sons, if he was able. He glanced to the side and saw a narrow street with an open door leading into an empty, partially glass-fronted building. He was reminded of the smashed and broken rooms in the quarantined section of the GPS space station where, on another occasion of foolhardy decision making, he had ventured and nearly met his end at the hands of one of the maddened. In contrast, this place still looked new, but in other ways it was just as dead. It would be a risk to make a run for it, but if they could get off the street then perhaps Page and Maria could activate the GARDs quickly enough for them to get away. He wished that Summer would look at him, so that he could try to communicate his intent, but still she looked down. He switched his eyes back to Ann Kurren, who continued to look hopefully out at the man who no longer truly understood who she was.
Awkwardly, and clearly out of his depth, it was Lieutenant Nurem who tried to break the impasse. “Lady, step forward and get behind us. There’s no need for you to get hurt.”
Ann’s head dropped forward and she glanced back at her sons, frightened and huddled behind her. She forced her eyes shut and swallowed hard, feeling guilt stab at her insides, but there was only one choice she could make; she had to save her sons if she could. She knelt down low and then spoke softly to the two young boys. “Come on, it will be alright. Just follow me, and we’ll soon be back home…”
“No.” The words came from the lips of General Kurren. “No-one leaves.” He drew his weapon and pointed it at Ethan and then at Summer, before finally aiming at Ann. “Bring me Salus or you all die, now.”
Nurem’s PVSM bleeped a proximity alert. He scowled and checked it, and then his face scrunched up even more tightly as he read the information. “Sir…”
“Kill them all and bring me Salus,” said Kurren, as if not hearing him.
“Sir, we have incoming. From outside. Dozens, maybe more.”
Kurren’s eyes flickered, and the old General Kurren seemed to break to the surface. “What are you talking about?” he snarled, looking at his own PVSM, but the readings were the same; dozens, maybe a hundred or more contacts were approaching. He looked at the screen and then up at Ann, and then all around him, disoriented, as if he were seeing this scene for the first time.
“Shall I pull the men back to the transports, sir?” said Nurem, though it was more a statement than a question.
“No!” snapped Kurren and his face hardened again. “No-one leaves until I have Salus!”
Kurren raised his weapon and fired, and Ann Kurren fell to the street, clutching her shoulder, her sons immediately cried out and rushed to her aid, shielding her body with their own. Kurren raised his weapon again, his expression showing neither anger nor hatred, and placed his finger on the trigger.
“Sir, they’re your own sons!” called out Nurem, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
“No-one leaves!” snarled Kurren, as he added pressure to the trigger.
Suddenly, the GARDs smashed through the upper storey windows of the buildings behind them and immediately starting firing bolts of blue energy at anyone wearing armor. Two hit Kurren, causing his muscles to spam uncontrollably. The weapon went off in his hand, but the round just ricocheted off the surface and vanished into the darkness. Kurren fell and so did Nurem and several of the other soldiers.
Ethan ran to Summer and pushed her toward the narrow side-street. “Run, now!” he cried out to her, and then darted towards Ann Kurren. The cavern was filled with the roar of automatic weapons being fired chaotically by the UEC soldiers as they desperately tried to take down the heavily shielded and swift GARDs circling above them and raining down powerful bolts of energy. He took hold of Ann’s waist and slung her wounded arm over his shoulder. She yelped in pain, but there was no time for restraint; they had to get off the street. He shouted to the boys to follow him, as he hauled their mother away from the maelstrom of bullets and into the side street opposite to where Summer had headed. Ethan tried door after door, but each was locked, and with each failed attempt he grew more anxious. He cursed as the last door on the street also failed to open, and then stepped back and aimed a powerful kick at the locking mechanism, smashing the door open with a crash.
“Inside!” he shouted, and frantically the two boys scrambled through, before Ethan pulled Ann in and then closed the door as best he could, but the latch was smashed and it swung ajar with a creak that to Ethan sounded louder than the gunfire outside. He turned to Ann and inspected her shoulder, tearing away the fabric of her blouse around the wound. She again cried out in pain and squirmed as Ethan examined the injury, but though it was painful, she had been fortunate; the bullet had passed through the fleshy part of her arm, missing bone and artery.
“Hold still,” he said, calmly, and then tore off the remainder of Ann’s sleeve, using it as a makeshift tourniquet to stem the bleeding. Ann’s cries intensified as Ethan tightened the knot, but he was oblivious to her cries. His thoughts were filled with Summer – how did Kurren know who she was?; how had he found her?; what had she suffered? He felt the rising tide of anger surge throughout his body as the worst possibilities crossed his mind. He couldn’t stay here any longer; he had to find her. “Find somewhere in here to hide,” he said to Ann as she staggered back, clutching her shoulder. “Ann, listen to me... Stay hidden, no matter
what happens, do you understand?”
Ann nodded, but she was shaking and on the verge of breaking down completely. Ethan turned to the boys, who looked equally frightened, but as much out of concern for their injured mother as for the situation.
“Stay out of sight, okay?” he repeated to them, and they both nodded. “You’re all going to be okay, I promise, just hide here and wait for me to find you.”
Ethan didn’t wait to see where they chose to hide; he had already made his way back to the door and, with a quick glance out along the narrow side street, set out back towards the sound of gunfire. He made it ten paces before a figure in blue armor appeared at the entrance to the street, partially silhouetted by the bolts of energy that flashed behind him as the battle raged on. Ethan did not need any more light to know who this was; the soldier was not wearing a helmet. They both froze, but only for a second, before General James Kurren raised his weapon and advanced.
Chapter 32
Page watched the remote feed from the two GARDs as each circled above the UEC soldiers, raining energy bolts down onto their blue armor. Some had stood their ground while others had fled for cover, but the assault had broken their discipline, and it was a free-for-all.
“Ten down…” said Page, stoically. “But GARD one has overloaded and crashed onto the top of one of the buildings, and the second has taken heavy damage.”
“How many does that leave?” asked Yuna. Her voice was level and surprisingly calm, Maria thought, considering all hell was breaking loose just ahead of them.
“Too many,” Maria replied. Ethan had not returned with Summer, which left just Maria, Page and Yuna to stand against twelve UEC soldiers. Poor odds didn’t even begin to cover it, Maria thought.
Page’s PVSM bleeped and he switched from the video feed to check it.
“What now?” said Maria, hoping it wasn’t more bad news, but from the look on Page’s face, she knew she could rule out a surprise GPS security force turning up to assist them.
“There’s movement outside, heading this way. Lots of movement,” said Page, looking confused, “but I can’t tell you what’s moving. These readings make no sense to me.”
Yuna shifted across so that she could see the feed. As she scanned the data there was an explosion, causing Maria and Page to duck and then look out to see the flaming and sparking remains of the second GARD spiraling to the street. Yuna did not look; instead she pulled Page’s arm closer and scowled at the information on the screen, looking serious, and also afraid.
“Yuna, tell me some good news… please,” said Maria.
“They read as genetically deformed,” said Yuna, “or maddened, or whatever you want to call them.”
“That doesn’t sound like good news,” said Maria, wondering what else could go wrong.
“It’s not, sorry,” said Yuna, fatefully. She had not yet looked up from the data displayed on Page’s PVSM. “The explosion must have drawn their attention.”
“How many and how soon?” said Maria.
Yuna shook her head, and then met Maria’s eyes. “Too many, and too soon.”
“They know too,” interrupted Page, and then he pointed over the barricade. The UEC soldiers had re-grouped, but instead of aiming their weapons down the street towards Maria, Page and Yuna, they were facing back the way they had come. Curiously, General Kurren was no longer with them.
“This is our chance!” cried Maria, with renewed vigor. She stood and leapt over the barricade. “Page, Yuna, get the survivors into the engineering complex, while they’re distracted.”
“But what about the maddened?” said Page.
“They’ll have to get past Kurren’s men first. It will buy us the time we need.”
“And what about you?” added Page, wondering why Maria had scaled the barricade.
Maria stood tall and disengaged the safety on her sidearm. “There’s something I have to do first.”
Page understood, though under the circumstances he didn’t agree that now was the best time to settle her score with Kurren. But in her place, he admitted that he would probably do the same. “Make him pay,” he said, with feeling.
Maria did not answer, but the look in her eyes told Page all he needed to know. He watched as Maria slipped away down the long, dark street, on a path that would take her through the side streets towards the UEC’s position. Once she was out of sight he looked at Yuna, who was standing ready, holding the powerful bolt thrower, and then they both ran from behind the barricade towards the museum.
The clack of Page’s boots rang out sharply against the street surface, but as he arrived at the Museum door, there was no sign that the soldiers had been alerted. Yuna arrived seconds later, and set to work unlocking and opening the main doors, while Page continued to keep a watch on the UEC, noting that Nurem, in the absence of Kurren, seemed to be in command.
The doors to the museum slid open and Yuna dashed over the threshold, shouting, “Everybody, it’s Yuna! We must leave, now!” Gunfire crackled outside, snapping Yuna’s attention back to Page.
“It’s okay, they’re fighting the maddened,” Page called to her. “We must get everyone out, now!”
Yuna called out again to the survivors hiding in the museum, but all she heard in reply was the ghostly echo of her own voice. The gunfire… Yuna remembered. We told them to stay hidden if there was still gunfire!
“Please, we must leave!” Yuna shouted again, but her heart was racing and her voice faltered. “We must go!”
Suddenly, a boy peered out from behind an archway at the edge of the entrance hall. He saw Yuna but he stood his ground and did not run.
“Yes, please come!” shouted Yuna, breathlessly. “We’re in danger, we have to get everyone out!”
The boy stepped out into the hall, and Yuna heard nervous voices calling out to him, telling him to come back, and that it might be a trap, but the boy ignored the calls and walked towards Yuna. In one hand he was clutching a simple metal disc that was hanging around his neck on a piece of twine.
“It’s okay, it’s only Yuna,” the boy shouted out. “She says we’re in danger.”
There was still no answer, only murmurs from the many corners, nooks and crannies of the museum’s grand entrance.
“Come on, don’t be afraid! Follow me!” the boy shouted and then he ran to join Yuna. More faces appeared from the dark corners of the hall, and steadily, the survivors crept out from their hiding places and joined the young boy.
Yuna looked at the leader. “You are very brave,” she said, beaming down at him. “What is your name?”
“I’m Josh,” said the boy. “I’m a ranger. I can help!”
“Thank you, Josh,” said Yuna, kneeling to bring their eyes level. “Okay, young ranger, here’s what I need you to do…”
Josh listened to Yuna’s instructions with a look of intense concentration, and once she was finished, he smiled and ran towards the door shouting, “Follow me!” to the others. Yuna watched as the line behind Josh grew and then she ran out ahead of him, calling to Page that she was going to open the door to the engineering complex.
Page acknowledged, but kept a watchful eye on the soldiers, who were being steadily pushed back towards them as the maddened progressed further into the cave. He checked his PVSM and saw that there were now at least fifty of the maddened already inside, with many more flowing in from the plains outside. He knew it would only take one or two of these creatures to break through in order to threaten the safety of every survivor.
Tense minutes passed as the last of the survivors exited the museum and joined the line towards the engineering complex, until finally a middle-aged woman with short blond hair ran past Page and shouted, “I’m the last, we’re all out!”
Page waited for her to pass and then joined the back of the fast moving line, covering their retreat. His PVSM sounded a proximity alert, but he kept moving as he checked the panel, seeing three contacts approaching from the east perimeter and moving towards the head of the
line. He tightened the grip on his sidearm, turned and ran as hard as he could; the impact of his boots striking the surface sent tremors through his entire body. Then he saw them – three wolves, their bodies twisted towards the survivors, dark saliva dripping from their jaws. Page slid to a halt and fired wildly, drawing their attention away from the children and onto him instead.
“Come on! Here!” Page shouted, waving his arms above his head. “Here!”
The maddened wolves turned and began to stalk towards Page, spreading out in an attempt to surround him. Page raised his weapon and shot three times at the closest wolf, hitting it first in the back and then the head. It dropped, quivering and writhing. But even before the sound of the first gunshot had faded, the two other wolves had pounced. Page fell back, firing again and catching the second wolf cleanly in the body, but the third was quickly upon him, jaws wide open showing rows of blackened teeth like shards of obsidian. Instinctively, Page raised his left arm to defend himself and the wolf sunk its teeth into his armor. He fell, letting go of the sidearm so as to cushion the fall with his other hand, while the wolf continued to add pressure to the bite. Page could feel the armor contract and squeeze his flesh, and then pain shot though his forearm as the black teeth pierced the near-unbreakable blue armor. Page shifted his weight, throwing the animal to the side and punched at its head and throat, landing blows that could smash rock and dent metal, and eventually the creature released it jaws and backed away, howling and snarling, its black eyes still fixed on Page. He looked around for his sidearm, but could not see it, and then lying in front of the barricade he saw the bolt-thrower that Ethan had discarded before running to Summer. He raced towards it and the wolf charged again, but Page anticipated the attack and caught the creature in mid-flight, twisting his shoulders and using its own weight to cast it behind him. The creature wailed and lashed, catching Page across the left side of his face, narrowly missing his eye, but he was so full of adrenalin that he felt the pain only distantly and, blinking blood away from his eye, dived for the bolt thrower. The wolf rolled and slammed into the barricade, but was back on its feet in seconds. It shook its head, let out a guttural howl that pierced Page’s ears and shook his armor, and hurtled forward. He spun onto his back and held up the bolt thrower, searching for the trigger as the wolf sped closer and then felt the power of the weapon kick back into his shoulder. A bolt ripped through the animal’s body and it fell on top of him, biting it claws into the armor plating on Page’s shoulders. He could feel the drool from the creature’s jaws wet his face, and he shut his eyes, preparing for the pain, but instead he felt the vice-like pressure reduce and then, with a croaky, low moan like dying thunder, the creature fell limp on top of him. Page heaved it off him and scrambled away, dragging the bolt thrower with him until, eventually, his back struck the barricade and he remained there, panting, staring at the creature, terrified that it might move again.
