by Mike Kraus
Rachel shook her head, averting her gaze from Marcus. “Marcus, I know what you’re saying, but—”
“No!” Marcus shouted and Rachel could hear a distant clatter as David dropped something in the background, startled by Marcus’s outburst. “We will not just leave them there! Of all people, you should be the one who knows that more than any of us!”
“Marcus is right, Rachel. We can’t leave them. Work as fast as you can, get Bertha and me out of here and then we’ll figure out a plan to save them. I’m going to have the satellite change orbit so I can track them for longer periods. I’ll keep a close eye on them and radio you two the instant I see any changes.”
“Okay, we’ll get back to work now.” Rachel’s reply was quiet and distant, and Marcus felt a twinge of regret at having spoken to her like he did. As she replaced the microphone for the radio back in the APC, she kept her gaze averted from Marcus, going so far as to walk past him back to the stairwell without looking at him.
“Rachel, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“No, Marcus. You and David are both right. I just… I’m too focused on the big picture right now. Let’s just get through this so we can get to Leonard and Nancy before it’s too late.”
Reaching out, Marcus pulled on Rachel’s arm, tightening her in a hug. They stood for a moment with Sam trotting around as Rachel struggled against her tears. Marcus said nothing as Rachel began to cry, simply standing with her in the middle of the pit, surrounded by the dust and ruins of the city.
Undisclosed Location
The atmosphere in the underground chamber is tense as Mr. Doe prepares a final software update for his fledgling swarm of nanobots. Forcing them to work beyond their operating parameters, he has caused them to achieve critical mass with only a day’s worth of work. With a final check of the update, he uploads it to the swarm, swinging around in his chair to watch their reaction in real time.
For a few seconds, the nanobots’ behavior is unchanged. Swirling around in the cylinder, they behave as any other swarm would. The first sign of their change is aggression. Their movements become more erratic and wild as they move in the chamber, their size too small to make any noise as they bounce off of its interior. Mr. Doe makes a few adjustments at his control station, uploading small tweaks to the nanobots’ software.
After an hour of uploading tweaks, Mr. Doe is finally satisfied with the performance of the nanobots. He moves to another control station and pushes a large red button, causing the nanobots to immediately drop to the bottom of the cylinder, their blue glow extinguished. Temporarily incapacitated, the nanobots are sucked into a flexible tube that extends down into the cylinder, guided by Mr. Doe’s hand. Unable to offer any resistance, they are flung through a series of pipes up to the surface, where they are deposited into a small receptacle.
A miniature camera in the receptacle shows the nanobots returning to life as their temporary stun wears off. Their blue glow is dim at first, but rapidly returns to full brightness as they rise out of the receptacle and out into the open air. Mr. Doe guides them, their numbers still not enough to operate autonomously. A series of latitude and longitude coordinates are transmitted to the nanobots, which immediately take flight. Hundreds of miles separate them from their targets, but they move rapidly, ascending and descending through the atmosphere to take advantage of wind currents that drive them toward their destinations.
Across the scorched earth, small pockets of survivors cling to life. A man here, a family there, a child wandering through a house, wondering where her parents have gone. Along their path, the nanobots sweep across survivors they encounter, transmitting video and biological data of the survivors back to Mr. Doe. He shakes his head disapprovingly at the first several specimens, annoyed by the hours it takes to locate and examine each new survivor. Most survivors do not notice the swarm, too caught up in survival to take note of the small blue mass. Those who do, though, dismiss it as a hallucination, brought on by what they can only assume is radiation sickness, not knowing the true extent of what has transpired in the world.
Mr. Doe rubs his eyes, stifling a yawn. Six hours of constant searching have revealed only pitiful survivors, too malnourished or injured to be of any use. With the swarm this close to Washington, he doesn’t want to take any chances of having it being spotted by ‘them.’ His lip curls at the mere thought of David, Rachel and Marcus, and how they destroyed his previous swarm. This second group of nanobots is the last of his resources, and unless he can find a way to get them into the laboratory without being stopped, he may have to resort to more drastic measures.
A metaphorical spot of light at the end of the tunnel appears as the nanobots close in on another target, a lone figure stumbling through a neighborhood close to Washington. How he has survived the nanobot-augmented humans, Mr. Doe doesn’t know, but neither does he care. A scan of the subject shows that he is in good physical shape, with only minor surface lacerations for injuries. Mr. Doe does not hesitate. He jabs a button on his control station, ordering the swarm of nanobots to circle down toward the unaware man, moving in not for the kill, but for a more sinister purpose.
“If the AI can do it,” Mr. Doe thinks to himself, “I can damn well do it too.”
Leonard McComb | Nancy Sims
7:07 PM, April 11, 2038
As the first storm Leonard and Nancy had experienced since the end of the world, it was certainly making quite the impression. With gale-force gusts and sustained winds in the upper eighties, it was a force to be reckoned with, even if it hadn’t yet deposited any precipitation on the ground. Across the small town, shutters on windows shook and trees bent and twisted. Every few moments a crack would sound out, signaling the snapping of a branch or the impact of a loosened shingle on the road or another building.
The roiling clouds blotted out the last of the fading sun, casting dark shadows for miles in every direction. A sickening black in color, the clouds moved as though they were on fire, hanging low over the ground. Intense bursts of lightning arced between the clouds as they crawled slowly over the sweeping fields, dwarfing the small town below. Occasionally a flash of lightning would touch the ground, setting off a hail of thunder that shook windows and rattled teeth.
The first major casualties of the storm were the greenhouses, their thick glass panes and plastic sheeting unable to stand up to the impact of debris thrown around by the storm. A few of the more adventurous members of the village rushed out to hastily nail wooden planks in place over the holes and intact glass, hoping to keep the precious crops in the buildings protected from the storm. The barricade surrounding the town stood strong, though a few of the poles whose concrete was still setting were wobbling in the wind, threatening to topple over at any moment.
Sitting on the upper floor of the same building they had been brought to when they first entered the town, Leonard and Nancy watched through a narrow window, amazed at the destructive power of the storm. The usual evening gathering had been abruptly cancelled by Samuel himself as he’d instructed the members of the village to return to their respective buildings to ensure they remained safe during what he called “the first wave of the end of days.” Leonard and Nancy had seized upon this opportunity and had hastily returned to their building, still hounded by the guards that followed them dutifully even through the ferocious weather.
Between the guards being out of earshot downstairs and the powerful winds outside, Leonard and Nancy could speak without worrying about being overheard. Despite this, they still whispered to each other, fearful of the consequences of someone from the village hearing their discussions.
“Do you think we could get out of here under the cover of the storm?”
Leonard shook his head, frowning at the weather, which was steadily worsening as the main cloud cover continued to advance toward the town. “Not yet, but that does give me an idea. If the weather gets much worse, it’s possible I could slip away from the guards and go see what condition the APC is in. If I could get it runni
ng, we might be able to get out tonight.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No way, Nancy. You’ve got to stay here and keep the guards distracted if they notice I’m gone.” Leonard stood up and moved to a side window of the room, holding the shutter tightly as he pushed it open a few inches. Looking out, Leonard could see that the side of the building had a pair of drainpipes that ran vertically from the roof down to the ground. The pipes were just a few feet from the window, well within reach if he were to climb out onto the window ledge.
Looking back at Nancy nervously standing behind him, Leonard smiled and gave her a quick hug. “It’ll be fine. I’ll wait just a bit longer and then do this. I’ll be counting on you to make sure the guards don’t know where to look for me if they come up and check on us.”
Nancy paced back and forth as she spoke. “Any ideas? Those two don’t really strike me as the kind of people who will listen to excuses.”
“Already thought of that. Once I’m safely down, just lie down on one of the cots and keep still. If they come up and notice I’m gone, pretend you’re asleep until they wake you up. Just keep telling them that you were asleep and don’t know where I went.”
“I could tell them you mentioned that one of the barricade posts looked weak. Maybe they’ll stay off your trail longer that way.”
Leonard smiled, glad that Nancy was getting into the spirit of things. “Perfect. If I can’t get the APC going, I’ll wander around until they find me and play innocent. If I do get it going, though… well, just be ready to come to me. I don’t know if any of our guns will be left inside the APC or not, so you’ll have to be fast if you hear me coming.”
Leonard and Nancy were both quiet for a few moments as they sat back down and watched the storm. The sky continued to grow darker and louder as the winds picked up in speed, sending the shutters of their building flapping freely against the windows. The loud clatter nearly masked the sound of the downstairs door flying open as one of the guards burst out and ran toward the closest wall of the barricade.
Standing up to get a better look, Leonard could see that three posts were ready to give way, and the guard was attempting to get to them in time to hold them up. “What the hell does he think he’s going to be able to do?” Leonard muttered under his breath as he grabbed the shutters to the window, trying to keep them under control in the powerful winds.
As the man finally reached the barricade, disaster struck. A sudden gust of wind finally knocked over one of the posts, sending the pointed object bouncing and rolling toward the guard. Horrified, Nancy turned her head from the scene just as the pointed end of the pole impacted with the guard’s body. Driving deep into his chest, Leonard could see the man struggle futilely against the pole, which was still being driven onward by the wind, carrying the man along with it.
Seconds later, the other guard flew out of the house, racing toward his comrade as he screamed something impossible to understand over the noise of the wind and thunder. Though this opportunity had come much sooner than Leonard had anticipated, he seized upon it. Running to the opposite side of the room to the window near the drainpipes, he pushed open the shutters and window. Looking back at Nancy, he began to climb out, clinging to the drainpipes to keep his balance.
“Stay here, do what I said and keep your head down. I’ll be back soon, one way or another.”
Nancy tried to open her mouth in protest, not wanting to see Leonard go, but he let go of the window and slid down the drainpipes, grimacing as the friction made his hands feel like they were on fire.
Landing in a tumble on a patch of dirt, Leonard stood up quickly, relieved that he hadn’t hurt himself in the descent. With a quick wave and nod to Nancy, Leonard jogged off, hunching over and sticking to the sides of buildings as much as possible. Nancy watched him until he disappeared behind a building and then ran back to the other side of the room.
Outside, in a small field near the lake where the guard and the post from the stockade had finally stopped, a small crowd was gathering in the midst of the storm. With more and more people drawn out to check on the guard, Nancy’s hopes for Leonard to be successful began to increase.
Rachel Walsh | Marcus Warden
7:14 PM, April 11, 2038
After spending a few more hours pounding away at the rubble in the stairwell, Marcus and Rachel widened the hole enough to slip through. After locking up the APC and bringing enough food and ammunition with them to last for a few days, the pair had squeezed themselves through the gap in the stairwell, throwing their backpacks through first. They sent Sam ahead of them to make sure the way was clear before they strapped their backpacks on and proceeded slowly down the stairs.
With a flashlight in one hand and his pistol in the other, Marcus followed Sam cautiously down the dark stairs, pushing debris out of the walking path with his feet with each step. Following up behind him was Rachel, rifle in hand as she kept an eye behind them. Though David had told them that he wasn’t aware of anyone—or anything—that was alive in the laboratory complex other than himself, Rachel and Marcus were taking no chances. Using Sam as their proverbial “canary in a mineshaft,” they coaxed him down the stairs, glad to see that he was still acting normally, if somewhat confused by their sudden descent into the earth.
After descending a few more flights of stairs, the amount of rubble began to lessen. There were still plenty of collapsed hallways branching off from the stairwell, but intact ones were growing more common. Rachel paused by each of these, shining her light through the small window on the hallway door to try and get her bearings. There were no floor or hallway signs anywhere, only small LCDs, mounted next to each door, that were black and darkened from lack of power.
This lack of signage was no accident. Part of the security measures of the building required that all signs be digital in nature. This tactic was similar to those employed by government buildings, most notably the ones performing highly classified research or that were of a high value for other reasons. The public reason for these digital-only signs was so that, in an emergency, they could be switched over to display evacuation information for employees. The real—and well-known secret—reason, though, was to throw off any potential intruders. If the security personnel in the laboratory detected any type of unauthorized access, they could change the building’s floor and hall signs to confuse anyone who was looking for a specific area. Unless intruders had an exact floor plan of the building and followed it the entire way through, they would easily get lost and disoriented.
This security measure was only used in test procedures during the time Rachel had been working at the lab, so she never got to experience its use in a real emergency situation. While she could still remember portions of the building’s floor plan, the complex was massive enough that she wasn’t even sure what stairwell they were in, much less how they could get into the area where David’s lab was located.
Before leaving the surface, David had tried to give Rachel and Marcus general directions to his laboratory, but even he didn’t know precisely what stairwell they had cleared. With nothing solid to go on, Rachel and Marcus decided to go as deep down into the complex as they could. David and Rachel’s labs were located near the bottom of the facility, so Rachel figured that – worst case – they could start searching floors one by one until they found one that looked familiar.
Every time they turned a corner, Marcus stopped his advance and pulled a short piece of rebar out of his pocket. He dug the rebar into the nearest wall, carving the letters “R” and “M” large enough to be seen from several feet away. The building was confusing enough in design that he wanted a foolproof way to find their way back to the top. Rachel had no arguments, and was impressed that Marcus was being so forward-thinking, though she didn’t dare tell him so.
Marcus was thankful that Rachel still had her flashlights with her, since the interior of the stairwell was pitch black after going down just a few stairs. The deafening silence of the building quickly engulfed the
pair, creating a tomb-like atmosphere unlike any they had felt before. Not even the police armory in Richmond had been as quiet as the laboratory complex. Each footstep echoed like the snapping of a twig, broadcasting their presence.
“I really hope there aren’t any muties down here. They’ll hear us coming a mile away.” Marcus whispered unintentionally, subconsciously trying to maintain the stillness of the building as much as possible.
Rachel nodded slowly and watched as Marcus carved another set of letters into the wall. “Yeah, but if there were, David would have heard them by now. He’s been down here this whole time, so—”
A distant sound made Rachel stop in her tracks, with Marcus doing the same just feet ahead. The echo of the sound reverberated up through the stairwell, sounding like a rock had been dropped down a well and was bouncing off of the sides of the shaft.
Marcus turned his head to Rachel, his eyes wide as he whispered to her. “You were saying?”
Rachel moved up next to Marcus, her knuckles turning white as she tightened her grip on her rifle. She held a finger to her mouth as she glanced at Marcus, then she patted her leg, hoping that Sam would interpret the sound as a call for him to come back to them. Agonizing seconds passed in silence until Rachel heard Sam’s familiar panting and sniffing as he meandered his way back up the stairs to his master.
