by Mike Kraus
“What happened?” Rachel’s voice was slurred, quiet and full of pain.
“Can you move?” Marcus whispered quickly. He was tempted to open fire on the two creatures, but they were no more than thirty feet away, and he wasn’t sure if he could bring both of them down before they reached him.
“I think so…” Rachel grunted as she pushed herself up, leaning on the wall for support. Unaware of the creatures coming toward her and Marcus, Rachel gasped as she turned to face Marcus, seeing the creatures just beyond him.
“Shit!” Rachel hissed.
“I strongly suggest that you get your gun before those things get here. I can’t take both of them on at once.”
Rachel’s movements were clumsy as she recovered from the earlier ambush, and she stumbled forward as she went to retrieve her rifle, letting out a slight yelp as she nearly fell over. Rachel’s sudden movement startled the creatures, who both let out a loud roar as they charged toward Marcus, Rachel and Sam.
Taking aim as best he could under the circumstance, Marcus aimed at the creature on the right, squeezing the trigger on his rifle and sending a quick three-round burst into the its chest. Unlike the previous one, who he had caught off-guard and managed to hit in the head, the assault on this creature didn’t do much. It flinched as the bullets impacted on its chest, tearing through muscle, bone and metal, but continued forward, its roar growing higher in pitch from the pain. Just a step behind its comrade, the creature directed its sole attention at Marcus.
Once again, Sam moved on the offensive along with Marcus. While Sam had previously provided only a glancing blow to the beast that Marcus gunned down, he now solidly collided with the creature on the left, tearing into its right arm and throwing it off balance. Landing on all four paws, Sam’s weight and momentum pulled the creature into the wall, where its head smashed into the window, knocking it backward to the ground. Sam was on top of it in an instant, tearing into it with a snarl as it tried to fight back and push Sam off.
Undeterred by the incapacitation of its partner, the first creature charged headlong into Marcus, tearing the rifle from his grip and flinging it to the side, sending it crashing through a window into a lab. Marcus tried to hold his balance as he was knocked back, but another rapid blow from the creature sent him flying down the hall past Rachel. For her part, Rachel was only minimally recovered. More importantly, however, she had retrieved her rifle and was waiting only for Marcus to be out of the line of fire before she lit into the creature.
Once again, Rachel dropped one of the blue creatures to the floor, its body skidding to a halt up against Marcus from its momentum. Before it even stopped, a chorus of angry roars came from the stairwell as a dozen more creatures came running through, pushing each other out of the way to be at the front of the pack. Rachel ran to Marcus, dragging him to his feet as she called for Sam to follow after them. With so many of the creatures on their tail, though, Rachel was hard-pressed to do anything except fire a few shots over her shoulder from her pistol.
“Sam, let’s go!” Rachel tried calling him to her, but when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw only the creatures bearing down on them at a frightening pace. As Rachel and Marcus ran down the dark corridor, lit only by Rachel’s flashlight and the blue glow behind them, the sound of Sam’s barks faded in the distance.
Leonard McComb | Nancy Sims
8:59 PM, April 11, 2038
Lightning offered the best illumination as Leonard drove along in the APC. Keeping the speed to just a few miles per hour and all of the exterior and interior lights off, Leonard hoped to avoid attracting any attention until the last possible second. The agonizingly slow pace was making his ride back to Nancy take longer than he wanted. Leonard glanced at the clock on the dash, trying to guess how long it had been since he left Nancy. Nine o’clock. Maybe half an hour? How would I know, though.
Set to an exacting military standard, the clock inside the APC was extremely accurate, offering a nearly unparalleled measure of time since most other timepieces had been wiped off the face of the planet. As the numbers rolled over from 8:59 to 9:00, a change in the pitch of the wind made Leonard hit the brakes and he opened the small porthole on the window.
Outside, the winds whipped past the APC, carrying dirt, dust and debris with them. The howl of the wind against the structures of the town was deafening, but something was different about it, something both unnatural and chilling. Leonard continued driving again, a little faster this time, spurred to a greater speed by the strange new sound. As he approached the building that Nancy was held in, a swath of movement out beyond the barricade wall made him stop the APC again. He sat, motionless, slack-jawed as he stared out into the distance.
Located on a portion of the town’s road that rose higher than any other place, Leonard could clearly see the fields beyond the hastily constructed stockade. Even though the entire area was blanketed in near darkness, flashes of lightning shone off of silver patches that were moving in toward the town. Focusing on the silver reflections, Leonard finally recognized what they were. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of the mutated creatures were closing in on the town, their mouths open as they howled eerily in the darkness of the storm above.
Members of the village who were crowded around the injured guard had moved forward to the stockade wall, peering at the creatures through cracks between the posts and from the lookout towers above. Guns were being passed out among the people as they prepared for the inevitable assault on the town. Leonard could scarcely believe the sight unfolding in front of him. He wanted to warn the villagers to flee, to escape before they were slaughtered by the creatures. The small number of villagers, even fully armed as they were, stood no chance against such a large number of the mutated creatures bearing down on them.
While the creatures weren’t running full-tilt toward the town, they moved quickly in a swarm-like manner, like a school of fish or flock of birds. The coordinated movements of such a large mass of creatures chilled Leonard’s blood. Fighting back the urge to turn the APC around and drive away as quickly as possible, he put it back into motion again. Switching the interior and exterior lights on and pushing the pedal to the floor, Leonard ignored the potential risks to being spotted by the villagers. The APC lurched forward, roaring toward the building at a breakneck pace.
Leonard glanced up at the upper floor of the building where Nancy was waiting, just as a flash of lightning cut through the sky, illuminating the area. Two figures were framed in the window by the lightning, struggling with each other. Leonard felt a sinking feeling as he watched the figures fade back into the blackness. Did the guard come back? Dammit! Time to end this now!
Turning the wheel slightly, Leonard pointed the armored vehicle directly at the base of the building. Pulling on the harness that held him securely to his seat, Leonard double-checked to make sure it was fastened and then drove the accelerator down to the floor with his foot. The APC’s engine surged as it flew forward at an even greater speed, heading directly for the side of the building underneath the window where Leonard saw the two figures struggling.
Leonard tried to keep his eyes open for the impact, but the reflex to close them was too great to overcome. The massive vehicle slammed into the brick façade of the structure, tearing it apart like tissue paper. As soon as he felt the APC shudder from the collision, Leonard put both feet on the brake pedal, bringing the APC to a sliding halt in the center room of the structure. Dust swirled momentarily in the building, illuminated by the APC’s headlights before it was quickly swept away by the gusts from the storm outside. The creaking of the building grew louder as the winds battered the now compromised structure, threatening to send it tumbling to the ground.
Leonard threw open the door of the APC and raced up the stairs to find Nancy. As he entered the room, he gasped at the sight before him. Nancy’s limp form was spread out on the floor, with a man kneeling on top of her, his hands on her throat as he laughed evilly, unaware of Leonard’s presence. Charging forwa
rd, Leonard grabbed a nearby chair, screaming as he raised it over his head to attack the man. Faster than Leonard could have imagined, the man turned toward him, one of his eyes covered in thick bandages and his arms covered in dried blood. A glint of silver flashed in the man’s hand as he leapt toward Leonard, his one good eye bloodshot and full of rage.
Rachel Walsh | Marcus Warden
9:05 PM, April 11, 2038
Barely staying ahead of the pack of creatures, Marcus and Rachel ran through the white corridors of the lab. Rachel swept her flashlight from side to side, guiding them to the left, right and—finally—down a flight of stairs. In the few times Marcus had gotten a look behind them, he hadn’t seen any sign of Sam. Marcus didn’t have time to wonder what had happened to him, given that the creatures were frightfully close to catching them.
The one advantage that Rachel and Marcus had over the creatures was knowledge of the layout of the laboratory complex. Rooms with obscure equipment and winding hallways that seemed to double back upon themselves were all familiar territory to Rachel, who easily traversed the tangled maze until they arrived at a final staircase leading further down into the building.
“Quick, get in! This’ll take us directly to the lab!” Rachel hurried Marcus into the stairwell and slammed the door, twisting a set of bolts into place at the top and bottom of the steel door. The creatures threw themselves at the door from the other side, causing large dents to surface across it. Unlike the armory in Richmond, the doorway to the stairs was not made of an especially hardened material, and it would only stall the creatures for minutes before they broke through.
Not sticking around to see just how long the creatures would take, Rachel led the way down the stairs, with Marcus bounding right behind her. Marcus was nearly tripping on Rachel’s heels as they both leapt down sets of stairs, using the handrails to pull themselves around corners. At the bottom of the stairway, Rachel threw open the door and ran forward, knowing exactly where she needed to go.
Three laboratories down the hall, Rachel skidded to a halt as she was faced with a pile of rubble from a ceiling collapse. Directly in front of David’s lab, it blocked the doorway and most of the windows, though Rachel was still able to see through one. Wiping away the dust that had accumulated on the window, Rachel pounded on the glass, hoping that the glow in the far corner was more than just a random piece of equipment that was still running on battery power.
Movement from inside the lab caught Rachel’s eye, and the familiar face of David came forward, a smile spreading across his face as he saw Rachel. Rachel yelled, trying to communicate with him, but David pointed at his ear as he frowned and shook his head. Unlike many of the laboratories, labs that worked exclusively on the nanobot project had reinforced doors and windows, a side effect of which was fantastic soundproofing. Rachel’s voice came through to David muffled and vague, and he was unable to understand anything specific in what she said.
“Marcus, we’ve got to get in there now! Those things are still coming!”
Rachel turned to Marcus, who had already started trying to move the immense pile of scrap and rubble blocking the door. While there appeared to be a large amount of material in the way, most of it was lightweight, with drywall and tiles comprising the bulk of the pile. As Marcus frantically tore away at the debris, the blockage in front of the door became clear.
One of the floor supports, a large I-beam, had somehow fallen sideways from the ceiling into the hall, pinning the door closed. While it only weighed a few hundred pounds, from the angle it had fallen, no amount of force from inside the lab could dislodge it.
“Get over here and help me, then!” Marcus’s shout got Rachel moving again, and she leaned in with him against the I-beam, struggling to lift it up enough to dislodge it. After pushing it up a few inches, she and Marcus heaved it to the side, sending it crashing down to the ground. A second crash came from behind them as the swarm of creatures finally broke through the door into the short stairwell. Now just one story away from their prey, the creatures raced toward Marcus and Rachel, intent on finishing the kill.
Before their blue glow even began to show in the stairwell, though, the laboratory door clicked and David pushed it open. Rachel noticed the opening door before David had a chance to speak and she pushed her way in, pulling on Marcus’s arm to drag him in after her. They fell into a pile at David’s feet, who stood grinning from ear to ear.
“Close the damned door, David! They’re right on top of us!”
David’s rosy cheeks went pale and he practically dove toward the door, pulling it shut and bolting the lock. Hidden behind the door with tight seals at both the top and bottom, the three crouched together, watching as a blue glow filled the hallway outside. Two creatures in the lead of the pack slowed down to a stop in front of the laboratory door, while the rest simply stood at the bottom of the stairwell and along the corridor, sniffing the air and looking around.
They were similar in appearance to the creatures encountered on the surface, but with enough variation that it was clear they weren’t “normal” mutated creatures. Aside from the obvious blue glow, their bodies looked less changed than the creatures on the surface. Their clothing was mostly intact and the amount of metal that crisscrossed their bodies was substantially less. The behavior of the creatures was different as well. Although they gave chase and attacked in the same way, these creatures seemed more methodical and cautious as they searched the hall for Rachel and Marcus.
The two in front of the door leaned down to examine the pile of debris that Marcus had shifted. They threw themselves into the pile, carving out a pathway through it before continuing forward down the hall, followed by the rest of the pack. Seconds ticked by in the dark room, with the hum of computer equipment in the room being the only source of noise. A thought passed through Rachel’s mind and she wondered if Mr. Doe was directly controlling the creatures in the same way he had directly spoken through the swarm of nanobots.
The theory would explain some of the oddities about the creatures, and the more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that it was true. Rachel turned and whispered to David, keeping her voice quiet even though they couldn’t be heard through the thick walls, doors and windows of the lab.
“Can you get Bertha going again? We need to take these things out right now.”
David stood cautiously and hurried to the back of the lab, followed by Rachel and Marcus. Looking through his computer, he shook his head as he answered. “No, not for another twelve hours minimum. I’ve barely got enough power to keep these few systems up, and everything extra is diverted to Bertha’s capacitors.”
“Shit. I guess we’re stuck here for a while.” Rachel sat down in a chair next to David and sighed deeply, then looked up at him and gave him a slight smile. “It’s good to see you again, David.”
David smiled back and stood up, embracing Rachel in a hug. “I’m so sorry about your husband and daughter, Rachel.”
Rachel nodded, then changed the subject. “David, this is Marcus. Marcus, David.”
Marcus shook David’s hand warmly. “Good to meet you, David. This is twice that you’ve saved our asses.”
“Hey, no problem. Hopefully I can do it again in twelve hours.”
A mumbled curse from Rachel drew the attention of David and Marcus, who turned to her, speaking in unison. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Doe. He’s somehow infected people with his private little swarm of nanobots, and I’m pretty sure that he’s directly controlling them.”
David’s gaze grew distant and he sat down in his chair, working toward the same conclusion that Rachel had already reached. “If so, then he’ll be leading them directly down to… Oh, no. No, no, no!”
David’s hands flew across his keyboard as he manipulated the computer, bringing up a grainy image from a security camera in a lower lab. The room was white, like all the others, but devoid of all equipment, save for a refrigerator-sized piece of hardware sitting on a short pedes
tal. Located in the center of the room, the device had two thick pieces of cabling running to it from the ceiling, and an orange light was slowly blinking on its side.
On the edge of the screen the outline of a doorway was just barely visible. David adjusted the camera angle to show the door in full view, gulping as it came into focus. The thick steel door was made like the one to David’s laboratory and was similar in construction to the armory that Rachel, Marcus, Leonard and Nancy had taken refuge in. Despite its strength and resilience, dents were beginning to form on the door, growing larger in size with each passing second.
“If those things get in there, they’ll rip Bertha apart.” David’s voice was quiet and his face white as he watched the live video stream.
“I guess there’s only one thing to do, then.” Marcus ejected the magazine from his pistol, looking at the witness holes to see how many rounds were left. It was nearly empty, though he had four more magazines stuffed in his pockets. Even with that plus Rachel’s rifle, Marcus knew they didn’t have nearly enough firepower to take down a dozen of the creatures.
