Ypsilon and the Plague Doctor

by Zachary Chopchinski

  Following orders wasn’t her style, but she couldn’t help fantasizing about it. No one to tell her she was crazy. No one to judge her or look down on her.

  Above her, the train came flying around the corner, the metal wheels grinding on the rails. Maza and Van were up there. And Kip. What would they think of her if she killed Adal and Arija? And did they even warrant being killed? Sure, she enjoyed the kill, but only when the person deserved it.

  “I sense a bit of hesitation in you,” Pajak said, taking another step towards Ypsilon, his hand still outstretched. “Don’t be a fool like your father and choose the wrong side.”

  That word. It ripped right through her.

  Father.

  The only person who truly cared about her no matter what. The person who’d taught her to be who she was.

  “What does that mean?” she demanded.

  “It means, once upon a time, your father made the foolish choice to stand against the tide. He was dealt with. Do not be so foolish. I would hate to have to kill you, like I did him.”

  Rage rushed through Ypsilon like a crimson tide. “You killed my father?”

  Pajak smiled.

  Ypsilon clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white and her hands shaking from the force. All these years she’d thought the Senate had killer her father.

  Then she smiled.

  Her mind made up.

  “Tell you what, Pajak. I have a better idea. How about I take that ugly, smug smile, rip it from your face, and kiss my ass with it? Sound like your jam?”

  Pajak scowled, dropped his hand and shook his head. “I suppose if I am to learn how my idiot brother made you, I’ll have to take you apart piece by piece.” He nodded and a half-dozen Geartha appeared behind him. “Bring her to me in pieces. The smaller, the better.”

  An electric buzz hissed like a live wire as their wings sprang to life in unison.

  Ypsilon listened for the sounds of traffic. She smiled. “Time to go.”

  She slid her foot to the side, kicking Bangarang into the air.

  Ypsilon snatched the cold metal from the sky and fired round after round at the swarm of mechanical insects.

  Running backwards, she kept an eye on the edges of the platform on her left and right, so she would know when the solid surface was going to end.

  The Geartha were fast. Soon, they were so close that she could feel the brush of wind as they swiped at her with their bladed arms. Ypsilon could see the sides of the platform coming to an end. She activated a thrust from her boots and angled herself backwards into the vast expanse over the docks. Tucking her head in as she flipped, Ypsilon prayed she had the math right.

  9|Oh Captain, My Captain

  The heat and steam from the end of Adal's gun made it almost unbearable for him to be near the weapon. He’d fired so many rounds the barrel had started to melt, preventing him from continuing to shoot.

  Maza still sat in one of the seats, his chest rising and falling as he slept. After he passed out, Adal focused on dealing with the Geartha, while Arija and Kip helped the Dwellers on the platform below.

  They had a pretty good rhythm going for a while; Arija would scope out the platform with her rifle and, when she found a big enough group of Prowlers, she’d yell to Kip, who would drop a knocker out the bottom of the car. When Van took the turns, Adal leaned out the window by his straps and shot the Geartha attacking the train.

  Now he turned, mouth open to say something to Van, when a window exploded. Adal covered his face as shards of glass rained over him. The force pushed him out the open doorway, leaving him hanging by the straps still attached to the gun.

  Ypsilon flew across the small cabin and slammed into the wall just next to him. He couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead.

  “Ypsilon!” Van shouted, running towards the Grinder chief.

  Adal shook the glass from his hair and looked down. The chaos of the docks spread beneath his dangling legs. Dead Dwellers littered the metallic surface but he didn’t know if they were innocent or Prowlers. “Shiiiiiit!” Adal screamed as he noticed several small fires raging on the platform below. He thought he’d gotten over his fear of heights, but dangling a hundred feet in the air with nothing but old fabric preventing him from falling to his death had brought that fear right back.

  “I got you!” Arija lunged forward and grabbed Adal by the belt buckle, pulling him in.

  “Any excuse to grab my junk, huh?”

  Arija let go and Adal slid backwards out of the cabin. “I swear to God, Adal, I will let you fall.”

  “My bad. Pull me in. Pull me in!” Adal wasn’t proud of the panic in his voice, but the idea of falling to his death brought up a lot of bad memories from the first time he’d been in the World Machine.

  Arija grabbed him once more and pulled him inside the cabin. She kicked the lever that closed and locked the door. Adal pulled his knife from his pocket and cut the rest of the straps away.

  Van was helping Ypsilon to one of the benches. She looked fine. Pissed, but fine.

  “Where the hell did you come from?” Adal asked, dropping the useless gun to the floor and picking up Ypsilon’s pistol.

  She snatched it from him, a scowl on her face. “Sight-seeing and a reunion. By the way, totally unrelated, but that Pajak guy is a real asshole and we have a buttload more of those flying things after us.”

  “Guys, we’re in trouble,” Arija warned. She pointed behind the car. More than a dozen Geartha flew behind the train.

  “I’m spent on ammo for the big guns,” Adal said, as he watched the horde gain speed. “We’re sitting ducks up here. We need to get down.”

  Ypsilon scoffed. “Good idea. Maza is still unconscious and all we’ve got is small arms.”

  “I mean, she isn’t wrong, Adal,” Arija added.

  Adal rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of a plan. “Uh, Kip. We need to get down from here. What are our options? We have to get into the city, find Captain Silny, and get more guns.”

  “We can always try the exhaust tunnels,” Kip replied. “They’re like a sewer system that expels the exhaust from the boilers in the city. During a fight like this, they’ll be shut down, but I can still get us inside.”

  “Great. Where are they?” Adal asked.

  “There’s an entrance at the far end of the docks near the gates to the city. I can get us down there, but we will need to move fast to get there before the Geartha tear us apart.”

  Adal rummaged through the duffle bag, pulling out a few rounds of handgun ammo. “Get us down there, then.” He reloaded his pistol. “Now, Kip.”

  Kip jumped up and grabbed one of his knockers. Before Adal could ask what he was doing, he opened the side door and took aim at an alternate rail system that ran parallel to the one they were on. Kip launched the small explosive. An explosion rocked the train and Adal had to grab one of the hand rails to stop himself from falling over.

  Kip ran back to the control panel. “You guys might want to hang on,”

  “Kip, what are you doing?” Arija asked, running over to join the kid at the controls.

  “Getting us down the only way I know how. We’re out of choices, here.” Kip let out a laugh that sent chills down Adal’s spine.

  “Kip…” he warned.

  “I have always wanted to do this!” Kip yelled.

  Everyone ran to the nearest seat and buckled themselves in. Adal leaned over and made sure Maza was strapped in tight.

  The train seemed to be going faster. The windows and doors rattled, and the car shook as Kip increased their speed.

  After a second, Kip said, “This is the main access line that leads to the city. The door is closed, obviously, so we’re going under it. Just before we hit the ground, I’m going to activate the reverse thrusters. That should give us enough of a momentum break to not kill us. At least that’s the plan. Once we stop moving, follow me and be ready for anything.”

  Adal’s heart thudded behind his ribcage. Had he heard Kip ri
ght? Where they really going full speed towards the ground?

  The faster they went, the louder everything got. The wheels of the train ground against the metal tracks. The seats and equipment rattled and shook as Kip increased their speed. They neared the turn to the next bend. Kip slapped a toggle. The car veered sharply to the left, taking a new set of rails. Adal’s stomach lurched into his throat.

  “Van and Ypsilon, you two get Maza,” Arija commanded. She turned to look at Adal like she felt sorry for him. She reached out and grabbed his sweat-drenched hand, giving it a squeeze before saying, “Adal, you get the weapon bags and cover our rear. I’ll grab the samples so Kip can analyze them. Does everyone get that?”

  Adal couldn’t answer past the lump in his throat, so he nodded. Behind him, Ypsilon said, “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “Get ready, guys!” Kip yelled.

  Adal forced himself to look past Kip at their impending doom. Smoke poured from the end of the rails. This was literally going to be a train wreck. He swallowed hard, turning his eyes towards Arija.

  She mouthed, We got this.

  Adal managed a shaky thumbs up just as Kip screamed, “Here we go!”

  Adal covered his face.

  Then there was silence.

  The humming and vibrating from the rails and windows, the deafening grinding, the shaking of the weapon bags as they barreled down the track, everything stopped.

  Adal’s stomach floated for a moment, then found its way to the back of his throat. He removed his hand from his face, half expecting to be dead. The eerie silence took over everything as he watched small parts, Arija’s hair, the straps still attached to the door frame float weightless for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a fractured second.

  Then the world came rushing back.

  Everything dropped.

  The cabin shook violently as Kip activated the reverse-thrust. A second shattering explosion erupted as the car collided with the surface of the dock.

  Adal jerked forward.

  Pain spread through his chest as the straps holding him in place saved his life.

  Waves of sparks and fire washed over the windows, preventing Adal from seeing where they were.

  A Dweller flew past the window.

  A stack of crates appeared.

  Splinters of wood and pieces of metal showered the train as they barreled across the dock.

  A panel at the front of the car tore away, revealing the passing platform underneath. Molten sparks jumped into the cabin.

  Smoke filled Adal’s lungs, making them burn.

  He coughed, trying to expel the fumes, but it didn’t work.

  He gasped for oxygen.

  “Kip!” The name came out strangled, his body not able to take in enough oxygen to properly give the word power.

  “Al-most-there…” Kip grunted from somewhere in the smoke-filled cabin.

  Another violent explosion and the car abruptly stopped. Cases and bags flew forward, bursting open as they slammed into the walls and seats in the front of the train.

  “We need to go now!” Kip yelled, somehow unfazed by the events that had just taken place. “We stopped short. We’re almost a hundred meters away.” Kip jumped from his chair.

  Adrenaline pumped through Adal, giving him the strength he needed. He swallowed the vomit that had rushed up his throat, jerked his straps away and stood. The heat from the floor radiated through the soles of his shoes. Sweat dripped off his forehead as he slid into the aisle.

  Arija was already grabbing the cases of samples and Ypsilon and Van had Maza on his feet. Adal grabbed the two gun bags and slung them over his shoulder.

  “Remember to follow me,” Kip reminded them. He ran to the front door of the beaten and broken train car and kicked it. The crash must have done some serious damage because the door fell off the hinges with one kick. With a quick look outside, Kip disappeared from sight.

  Arija followed, then Ypsilon and Van guiding Maza, who was only somewhat conscious. Adal sucked in a deep breath, happy to be alive as he stepped out of the train and into the chaos.

  The air on the docks was thick with fire and smoke. An airship exploded, sending fire and debris soaring a half mile into the air.

  “Get… It…” a garbled voice came from behind the train.

  Adal spun to see some of the crazed Dwellers had already targeted their position. He counted three. Adal pointed his pistol at the one nearest to him and fired.

  The creature was already horrifically shredded. Its jaw only clung to its face on one side, revealing the inner workings of its mouth. It glared at Adal through its only remaining eye. In one arm, it clutched its other, brandishing the severed limb like a club. The well-placed shot tore through the center of its face and it fell limp to the ground.

  “Kill it!” a Dweller on top of the mangled train car yelled.

  Several more creatures rounded the car and charged at Adal. He fired. Round after round tore through the Prowlers and, one by one, they fell lifeless to the ground. But with every foe he took down, more appeared.

  Two more Dwellers charged. The first went down with a single shot but, when he pulled the trigger again, he heard a small click. The second Prowler threw itself at Adal, pulling him to the floor.

  Adal pushed the thing away as it clawed and scratched at him.

  Slapping and swiping, Adal managed to punch the monster in the face. But the thing kept coming, seeming impervious to the pain. Adal shifted his weight and kicked the Prowler.

  He bought himself just enough time to pull the knuckles from his pocket. Adal grabbed the creature by the collar and pulled it to him just as he threw a punch. The combination of hits severed the Prowler’s head from its body and it flew out of sight. Bronze liquid spewed from the neck and Adal let the body slump to the ground beside him.

  A dock worker ran past Adal, screaming. His clothing was ripped and torn, a terrified expression plastered on his face. It was too late by the time Adal realized he wasn’t infected.

  A group of women all wearing what had once been intricate ball gowns pulled the dock worker to the ground. His screams of agony pierced the chaos as the women ripped him apart. A Prowler grabbed the Dweller’s face, dug her nails in, and peeled back the top of his head, exposing the mechanized brain beneath. The dock worker let out one last scream for help as the Prowler woman drove her fist into his brain. Then the screaming stopped.

  Adal couldn’t look away as the women turned and padded off in different directions. “I have to get the hell out of here.” He adjusted the bags and sprinted after his friends.

  Adal was supposed to be covering them, but now he couldn’t even see them, and there was no time to reload.

  As he passed a large piece of machinery, a group of Prowlers, now done with their victims, took notice and shouted to go after him. He didn’t look back. Adal let the hot air and smoke fill his lungs as he ran towards the city gates.

  Jumping over a stack of crates and dead Dwellers, Adal got a glimpse of his friends dropping into a sewer. He screamed for them to move as he pushed himself harder.

  Arija stood outside the manhole. She and Adal locked eyes. She threw the cases she was carrying into the hole and reached in for something. Clutching handfuls of explosives, she motioned for Adal to slide.

  He thrust himself forward and slid towards the sewer. As his chest hit the floor, Arija threw the handful of metal orbs over his head before diving into the hole. A second later, Adal followed her, head first.

  The ensuing explosion sucked the air from the atmosphere. He slammed to the ground ten feet below the dock as debris rained through the open manhole.

  Arija reached up and sealed them in. “You all right?” She helped Adal up and pushed his back against the wall, checking for injuries.

  “I’m good. It’s gonna take more than a few of those things to put me down.”

  “Guys,” Van interrupted. “I’m happy that we’re alive and all that, but…” She pointed down the tunnel.


  Ypsilon pointed Bangarang at a squadron of well-armed soldiers. Each soldier wore a bronze helmet enclosed with small portholes in the front and on either side. Their armor-plated suits were covered in tubing that attached to large tanks on their backs and had built-in lighting attached to each shoulder. Each soldier held what looked to be a Gatling gun, pointed directly at Ypsilon.

  “Put your weapons down or be fired upon. This is your only warning,” one of the soldiers commanded. In unison, all of their weapons began to spin, charging.

  Ypsilon looked over her shoulder at Van and Maza before holstering Bangarang. Adal and Arija stepped up to Ypsilon’s side, their hands raised high in the air.

  Adal had no idea what he was going to say. “Fellas… Can we talk about this before things go all pear-shaped?” he finally asked.

  One of the soldiers took a step towards them before releasing his finger from his trigger and waving the other soldiers down. “Hold on a moment. You’re the Topsiders. The ones with Webley.”

  Adal nodded.

  The soldier turned to address his men. “We need to get them to Captain Silny at once.”

  Kip stepped up. “Yeah, uh, any chance we can stop at my workshop first?” he asked, pointing at Maza.

  10|Molly

  Van stood silently next to her big brother, eyeing him. She’d never worried about him back home, but here things were different. She didn’t know what she would do if she lost him.

  Maza lay on a table, wires and tubes jutting from his arms. Kip had explained that her brother had massive internal damage and a severe amount of blood loss. One of the tubes was releasing nanites into his system so the little machines could fix his organs while the other tube was pumping a synthetic blood into his system to help replace what he’d lost. He breathed slow, deep breaths as the machines did their work.

  Van sawed her jaw back and forth. When they’d first hooked him up, she’d though he was dead. Her head had spun with a rush of emotions when he stabilized. Joy. Nervousness. Anger for how he put himself in harm’s way. Fear for what this meant for him as a leader.