Fragged

by Zachariah Dracoulis

  I wasn’t about to waste another second though, and slipped into the elevator, forgetting to pull down the hatch but managing to at least slide the elevator’s roof close right as Chad hit the button for the bottom floor.

  “I swear this game has it out for us,” I chuckled as I started to get a warning message ready for those in the bunker, “was there anything else out there?”

  Chad shook his head, “Probably a few Muties lurkin’ about in the dark, but other than that it was just myself, the Js, and those other dudes with the trikes.”

  “Are they alright?” Paul asked concernedly.

  “Should hope so, I didn’t get any notification saying otherwise.” Chad replied, “Besides, the Bearies were clearly far more interested in me.”

  “Ever the popular one.” I joked.

  I’m not sure why the gravity of the situation hadn’t quite hit me, or why I wasn’t worried about the fact that there was a massive breach in our fence, or even simply showing some fear about the blood-thirsty Bearies that were just a few short metres above us.

  Probably had something to do with the mix of general cockiness and excitement that I felt that something that I could actively be a part of was happening for the first time in days.

  Whatever it was, I wasn’t exactly fighting it, and nothing showed that quite like the message that I ended up sending out, a message that was supposed to convey warning and instil a sense of confidence in our ability to defend ourselves, a message that instead came out as a… well, see for yourself.

  Zoey (Community): This is just to give you guys a bit of a heads up. Some Bearies got through the fence, so I need you to do a few things;

  -Get battle-ready

  -keep the Freemen safe

  -think of a better name than Bearies. Seriously, I’m sick of calling them that

  “Really, Zo?” Paul scoffed, “Do we need to get you some kind of PR guy?”

  “What?” I replied innocently, “It covers all the points, and there’s no way it’s going to get misconstrued.”

  “I’m with Paul on this,” Chad chimed in, “could’ve definitely been a bit more… leaderly.”

  “‘Leaderly’ isn’t a word.” I retorted with a grin.

  “I’m not going to debate-”

  “Good, because you’d be wrong.” I interjected, puffing out my chest as I did so, “‘Leaderly’ is not a word, period.”

  I’m sure Chad would’ve had something to say about that, you know, something about how I was deliberately undercutting his and Paul’s important points by focusing on one insignificant detail, but he didn’t get the chance, because that’s when the Bearie decided to fall down the elevator shaft, leaving a decent dent in the roof of the elevator.

  “So… one of two things is going to-” I started then stopped as the undeniable sound of another Bearie landing on top of the first rocked the elevator, “Okay, one of one things is going to happen…”

  Chapter Four

  While I did predict what came next, it wasn’t magically any less pants-soakingly terrifying when the first Bearie decided to go ahead and do the selfish thing of dying, filling the elevator shaft with an explosion and destroying the cables that held us.

  The good news was that we didn’t have far to go, so hitting the bottom of the shaft was little more than slightly upsetting to my stomach.

  …Okay, so I’ve just realised that that could be taken a few ways, but for the sake of cohesion I’m going to go ahead and let it lie.

  “You reckon the other one’s dead?” Chad asked.

  “I don’t know…” I trailed off as I looked nervously at the damn near torn metal roof, jumping as the second last of the Bearies decided to belly flop down the chasm and onto his friend, “Alright, so I might have an idea.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt if you took this a little bit more seriously.” Chad hissed.

  “Yes, you’re right, I should be a quivering wreck.” I replied, making a show of rolling my eyes before turning to the surprisingly calm Paul just in time to have the second Bearie explode, its spines poking through the metal like curious little gophers, “You designed this thing, any emergency exits?”

  “Well,” Paul breathed before looking at the roof, “that’s one way out.”

  “And since that’s not an option..?”

  “Then there’s an access point out through the floor,” Paul replied after seething, “problem with that is we’ve slammed into the bottom of the shaft, and the hatch opens outwards.”

  “So what you’re saying is…” I trailed off, not quite wanting to finish the thought.

  “Yeah, we’re pretty much trapped.” Paul said before letting out a little laugh, “S’pose Chad and I could cover your body? Keep you alive as long as possible?”

  “I don’t think that’s gonna work.” I chuckled before becoming significantly more concerned as the last of the Bearies took the leap, “Shit, alright, so maybe now would be a good time to get a tad worried.”

  Chad let out a sigh at that and indicated for us to both join him against the far wall, “Nope.”

  I was about to ask him what he was talking about when, right as the third Bearie exploded and tore a large enough hole for the final one to start clawing at us, sparks started shooting up from the hatch Paul had mentioned, filling the small space with a flashing purple and blue light.

  “Watch the claws…” Paul muttered as he took aim at the Bearie’s paw, knowing full well that his bullets would do bugger all.

  A few more seconds went by before the sparking stopped and the hatch fell down into the four-by-four metre wide hole below it.

  “Ow…” a familiar voice groaned from inside.

  “Pete?” I laughed as he poked his head out through the hole, “What the Hell are you doing here?”

  “Saving your arse,” Pete replied before giving Chad a little wave with the plasma torch he’d used to carve his way in, “I see you decided to bring home a stray.”

  “Four of ‘em,” Paul mocked as he ducked under the paw and slipping into hole, “I think he’s acting out.”

  “Piss off.” Chad chuckled after I’d gestured for him to go next, clearly back to his completely chilled out self despite the growling beast that was trying to claw off his head, “Like you’d have done any better.”

  “I wouldn’t have led them back here.” Pete said as Chad disappeared down into the hole after Paul, “C’mon, Zo, that thing’ll get in before long.”

  “Yeah, yeah, just make sure the guys are out of the way.” I replied coolly after I’d got onto my hands and knees and started crawling towards the hole, “Just another day, eh?”

  “Heh, don’t I know it.” Pete chuckled before slipping into the space below him.

  I’m not sure why, but I decided to do something kind of stupid and sneak a curious little look up at the large paw as the Bearie swung desperately for me and missed while its other, free paw tore at the metal.

  You know what though? I was still smiling.

  I mean, what’s the point of a bunker if shit isn’t trying to kill you?

  Chapter Five

  “Hell of a system you’ve got down here,” I said as we crawled through the long series of ducts Paul had designed, “what made you think to set this up?”

  “It was actually one of the suggestions Miles dropped on me,” Paul replied, “he said he didn’t want us to deal with the same type of shit that they used to deal with when the elevator crapped out.”

  “‘They’ being the Metois?” Pete scoffed, “I’m still not a hundred percent convinced that he isn’t some kind of plant.”

  Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that since everything else in the world had slowed down Pete and Miles had decided to go back to clawing at each other’s throats?

  Yeah, it was entertaining for a little while there, but it got pretty fucking annoying pretty fucking quickly.

  I had a clever system though.

  “So, Brendo, he’s doing well with the men, huh?”

&
nbsp; That’s right, super non-obvious subject changes.

  “Yeah,” Pete sighed, clearly slightly annoyed that he didn’t get his opportunity to rip on Miles, “he’s actually doing a really good job of making sure the ones I’ve got are listening to me, you know? I thought there’d be some kind of growing pains, but they’re all really good dudes.”

  “What did you expect?” Chad huffed out amusedly, “Aren’t they your old guys?”

  “Eh, so-so.” Pete replied noncommittedly, “I recognise maybe half of the guys, and the rest all came in well after I got the boot.”

  “Would’ve had to make up the numbers following that whole ‘traitor purge’ thing.” Paul thought out loud before coming to a stop below a gap in the duct, “We’re here.”

  “Fantastic…” I half-groaned as both Paul and Chad climbed up and out of the duct.

  I know it might seem a bit weird, but I was kind of annoyed that we’d reached the end, mostly because, as far as I knew, it meant we were in the clear.

  “Nothin’ to do but wait it out now, huh?” Pete asked as he climbed up, leaving me alone in the duct for a few seconds as I caught up, “Hey, you reckon the siren’ll reach that last one? You know, with how far underground we are?”

  “I can only hope.” I sighed before finally crawling over to the opening and pulling myself up into the room.

  The floor was absolutely packed with people and bedding, to the point where the relatively simple act of closing the hatch resulted in me bumping into all three of the guys who’d come up before me.

  “Any word from the Js?” I asked after straightening up and facing Chad.

  “Nothing yet,” Chad replied coolly, “want me to call ‘em back?”

  “Nah, no point,” I sighed, making absolutely no effort to hide how bored I was, “set ‘em on aggressive patrol.”

  “Picking fights, are we?”

  I shook my head and started looking over the sea of people for Brendo and Miles, “I’d just rather they were prepared for things to get ugly.”

  “That Bearie’s still throwin’ a hissy in the elevator shaft!” Miles called over from somewhere in the crowd.

  “Thanks!” I shouted back, trying my best to channel my inner bat and use echolocation to track down the source of the voice, “Come on over here, we’ll figure out what to do!”

  “What’re you talkin’ about?” Miles asked from directly behind me, causing me to swivel so damn fast I nearly fell over.

  “Wha-how’d you get over here?” I replied without hiding the obvious surprise in my voice.

  “I was just over there…” Miles trailed off confusedly, using his thumb to point over his shoulder, “You know, with the elevator?”

  “Ah, quit sounding so uppity,” Pete interjected before I could respond, “seriously, it was probably just some sound bug or something.”

  “Oh, like you can talk about being ‘uppity’!” Miles retorted defensively, “How many times a day do you mention that bullshit ‘special ops’ group of yours, hmm? You do know that that’s just busy work to make you feel like you’re important, right?”

  “Okay, okay, this is just getting stupid now,” I interrupted right as Pete went to lay waste to Miles using only his words, before leading the way over towards the elevator, “c’mon, let’s go get a look at this Bearie. Ugh, I hate that name.”

  “Shouldn’t have started using it then,” Chad light-heartedly jabbed, “besides, I’m not sure anything else would be as recognisable.”

  “I can think of ten things,” Paul added, allowing Pete and Miles to continue bickering at the back of our little group, “and none of them sound like ‘berry’. It honestly just shows a complete lack of creativity, you know?”

  “Right?” I scoffed, “Just adding ‘ie’ to the end of a word doesn’t magically mean you’ve created a great creature name.”

  “Why are you arguing against yourself?” Chad asked confusedly, “You’re the one who started using it, remember?”

  “I know, but still, just sounds like something some lazy prick came up with at the last minute.” I said with perhaps more snark than was necessary, especially considering I could potentially hurt someone’s feelings.

  Someone who could wipe me and everyone around me out of existence if they so chose…

  Alright, I get the picture, back to it then.

  “Hey, guys!” Brendo exclaimed from where he stood beside the slightly ajar elevator doors as we passed through the crowd, “Good to see Pete managed to get you in time.”

  “Yeah,” I replied before looking over to the still bickering Miles and Pete, “cut it a bit thin though.”

  “Hey,” Pete snapped with a little grin, my little jab having pulled him back to the land outside of his and Miles’ cat fighting, “I would’ve been able to help you faster if you hadn’t have broken the escape hatch.”

  “And if you’d listened to my instructions…” Miles muttered bitterly in an obvious attempt to reignite the fighting, to which no one paid any attention.

  “Hey… Zo?” Paul murmured as he peered through the gap between the elevator doors, “I think… No, no, we definitely have a problem.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, tilting my head and joining Paul over by the doors as I did.

  “The Bearie,” Paul replied, “it’s gone.”

  Chapter Six

  “What in the good bimdly-fuck do you mean ‘it’s gone’?” Chad asked after I basically repeated what Paul had said.

  “I mean it’s fuckin’ gone.” I replied as I looked up and down the shaft, hoping that it had somehow learned to climb and had simply gone up, “It’s not in the shaft, and it doesn’t look like it’s in the elevator either.”

  “Maybe it died?” Miles suggested hopefully.

  “Would’ve heard it,” Brendo replied with a shake of his head, “I haven’t moved away from this since you joined the others.”

  “And it definitely went in,” I added as I regarded the absolutely destroyed roof of the elevator, “and from where I’m standing, it looks like it kept on going…”

  I spent a couple more seconds looking around before breaking away from the gap and turning to my men, my heart pounding away with excitement and fear as I tried to listen out for any sound that would indicate where the Bearie had decided to fuck off to.

  “Hear anything?” Pete asked, “Because I sure as Hell can’t.”

  I shook my head, “Is there any chance it went somewhere else?”

  Paul thought on that for a few seconds then shrugged, “I mean, it could have gone over toward the primary filters, but I reckon we’d be well better off if it came this way.”

  “How do you figure?” Chad asked confusedly.

  “Because if it reaches the filters we’ll run out of air,” Miles answered before Paul could, “and then we’re really fucked.”

  “What about the stairs?” Brendo suggested.

  Paul shook his head, “Wouldn’t be able to get everyone out, too tight of a fit, and even if we drew straws, it only goes up to the horticulture floor.”

  “Yeah, but then there’s the dumbwaiter to the top, right?” I asked, “You guys did put that in, right?”

  “Same problem,” Paul replied, “tight fit, as in one person, it only goes up to the top floor, and someone would have to stay behind to work it.”

  “The people at the top would be able to pull the others up, wouldn’t they?”

  Miles shook his head, “Maybe two or three people, but this is operating under the assumption that we’re gonna be in a bit of a hurry. We’d still lose hundreds.”

  “Not if we cave in the stairwell on our way up…” Pete muttered, earning him everyone’s attention, “Hear me out-”

  “No,” Miles snapped, “I won’t let you talk us into letting you explode a major part of this structure.”

  “He might have a point…” I trailed off as I started to think over just how irritating it would be to fix the cave-in versus the unbearable amount of work th
at would be required to start from scratch if I died in the bottom of the base, “Let’s at least hear him out.”

  “Thanks, Zo.” Pete said with a pointed look in Miles’ direction, “Now, it’s really quite simple, I get a couple of my boys to load up that stairwell with enough boom-boom to reduce it to rubble, then we move nice and slow-like up that dumbwaiter. It doesn’t fix the problem of us getting stuck up there, but it’s better than getting spiked down here.”

  “I’m with Pete,” Brendo chimed in before Miles could open his mouth in protest, “I’ll get my men movin’ up if you give the order, Zo.”

  I chuckled at that, “Not like we have much of a choice, is ther-” I started then stopped as the hatch near the centre of the room was smashed into, sending an echo throughout the entire floor and causing everyone to freeze.

  “Zo?” Brendo practically whispered, “Should we move?”

  “I think… yes.”

  The Bearie slammed into the hatch again, spurring those who surrounded it to back away fearfully right as Brendo belted out a strong “Move, you lily-livered fucks! Stairwell, now!”

  “Should I get the Freemen to move?” Chad asked as the people that surrounded us sprung into action.

  “Give it a few seconds,” I replied, gesturing for the others to follow me as I started following after Brendo’s men, “don’t want a meat grinder if we can avoid it.”

  I think Paul went to say something after that, but he didn’t get the chance as, with a bowel-emptying roar, the Bearie came smashing through the relatively weak barrier, sending the hatch flying high as it did so.

  “Get the girls out,” I practically muttered as I watched the beastly creature claw its way out of the ground like some kind of fuzzy, spike-covered demon, “the girls, the specialists, prioritise them.”

  “You’ve got it.” Chad replied flatly as we piled through the double-doored fire escape.

  I think that’s about the time my confidence started to dissipate and fear started to set in, my stomach dropping as I watched the Bearie curl into a ball and launch its spikes out, ripping apart a dozen Freemen as a result, and injuring at least five others.