by Mike Kraus
Two hours after leaving the group behind, Rachel finally sat down for a short rest. After alternating between running and jogging for most of the time, she was starting to think that the tunnel she had chosen wasn’t the correct one. The journey had been level for most of the way, with a few twists and turns, but Rachel hadn’t found anything particularly interesting except for a few pieces of machinery scattered around. Multiple bolted and locked doors had shown up along her path, and while Rachel had tried her best to open them, there were no visible mechanisms for her to do so.
After taking a few drinks from a water bottle and giving the same to Sam, Rachel stood back up and continued down the tunnel, walking this time instead of running or jogging. Expecting the tunnel to continue going for quite a distance further, Rachel was shocked when it opened into a room so large that her flashlight couldn’t penetrate to its depths. What the hell? Rachel had never heard of a place like this near the laboratory complex, but she had been traveling for so long that she had no idea where under the city she was.
Starting on the right wall, Rachel followed the outline of the room, walking the perimeter to find out how many possible exits there were as well as to see what the room might have been used for. A few hundred feet from the tunnel, Rachel began to pass machinery, pallets full of miscellaneous industrial supplies and something else that lit up her face with a large grin.
Slightly wider and longer than a golf cart, without the roof overhead, a squat transport cart sat along the wall. On the back of it was a trailer hitch and receiver, though there was no trailer in sight. Hardly daring to hope that her luck would continue, Rachel stepped toward the driver’s side of the cart and pressed the ignition button near the steering wheel. Although the cart had plenty of computer components in it, the room it was in was apparently shielded from EMPs since the small electric motor immediately began to hum. A few lights on the dashboard began to glow green as well, and Rachel slowly sat down behind the wheel, trying to decide what to do with the vehicle.
Having gone so far down the tunnel, Rachel was positive that it wasn’t going to get them back to street level anywhere near the APC. Even if the tunnel did eventually dump out to the surface, getting Bertha back to the laboratory complex through the ruined surface streets would be next to impossible, even if they used the dolly or the electric cart.
“Come on, Sam!” Rachel patted the seat next to her, coaxing Sam onto the vehicle. “Let’s see what else we can find in here, then we’ll get back to the others.”
With one tunnel down and four left to go, Rachel was hopeful that they would be able to find the exit soon, especially with the faster speed of the transport cart. Used for hauling machinery through the tunnels, the cart was packed to the brim with batteries, which were over ninety percent charged according to its diagnostics. “148 miles” glowed in the corner of the dashboard display, and Rachel took that to be the estimate of how much farther the cart could travel before it would have to be recharged.
Rachel flicked a switch labeled “Lights” near the ignition button and two bright LED headlamps sprung to life, cutting through the darkness and illuminating the majority of the room she was in. Up ahead, in the opposite direction of the tunnel she’d come from, Rachel could see large sets of elevator doors, tall and wide enough to bring down massive equipment and replacement parts for whatever was being built or installed in the area. Several more transport carts were also scattered around the room, though none looked to be in as good of a shape as the one she was in.
Rachel pressed down lightly on the cart’s accelerator and was jolted back in her seat, overwhelmed by how powerful the small vehicle was. A speedometer in the vehicle went from zero to fifty miles an hour, though Rachel didn’t feel like testing the upper limits of the electric motor anytime in the near future. After a quick examination of the elevators—and finding them to be without power and, thus, utterly useless—Rachel turned the cart around to go back through the tunnel to where Marcus and David were waiting with Bertha and the strange woman. With this vehicle, the group would be able to make fast time through the rest of the tunnels, and Rachel had no doubt that they’d be able to find their way out to the surface relatively quickly.
Turning back toward the tunnel to rejoin her friends, Rachel wasn’t paying very close attention to where she was going and accidentally sent the transport cart over a pile of copper tubing. Banging loudly in the quiet room, the tubing flew everywhere, sending a loud clanging sound echoing far into the distance. From behind her, Rachel heard the sound of the tubing turn into a different noise, lower and more guttural in the darkness. She turned her head and slowed the electric cart down, getting her flashlight out to see what the noise was.
As she looked behind her, Rachel suddenly realized that she had no need for the flashlight, as the back of the room was suddenly illuminated with a pale blue glow. Coming from two separate creatures, the glow grew stronger as more creatures climbed out of the open elevator doors, their numbers reaching six as the last one joined its brethren. Armed with only her pistol, Rachel abandoned the room as fast as she could, gripping Sam’s body tightly as she accelerated the cart forward into the tunnel.
Though the cart’s electric whine was quiet enough to not have attracted the creatures’ attention when she first turned it on, they were well aware of her presence now, and sought her out. Taking long strides as they ran, the creatures did their best to keep up with her, but the faster speed of the cart won out over the creatures as she quickly left them behind in the tunnel.
Traveling at over thirty miles an hour, the walls of the tunnel passed by in a blur. Rachel concentrated on her driving, keeping the cart steady and only slowing down for the occasional turn. With the creatures far behind her, she didn’t let up, as each moment she gained over the creatures was another moment that the group would have to prepare for the creatures’ imminent arrival. The question now wasn’t if they would encounter the creatures again, but when.
Marcus Warden | David Landry
5:39 PM, April 13, 2038
Marcus sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the dolly, glowering as he held Rachel’s rifle in his arms. Staring off down the corridor she had run down after ambushing him, he considered running after her for the hundredth time since he woke up. He restrained himself, though, knowing that protecting David, Bertha and even the strange woman was what he had to do.
Lost in self-pity and anger, Marcus didn’t notice when David sat down next to him, holding a bottle of juice out as a peace offering of sorts. Since David had told Marcus what Rachel did to him, Marcus hadn’t spoken a single word to David. Marcus blamed David for not stopping Rachel, and he was far too upset to want to talk to anyone. He glanced at the juice he pushed it away, not bothering to look at David or even acknowledge his presence.
“Marcus, again, I’m sorry. I would have stopped her if I could have, but she was so fast. I didn’t even know what was going on until she was running off with Sam.”
Marcus closed his eyes and sighed, leaning his head against the cold tunnel wall. Lit by the blue glow from the woman sitting a few feet above them, the tunnel was quiet except for David’s talking. The silence and cold temperature gave the tunnel a spooky air, particularly since Rachel and Sam had left. Rubbing his neck where Rachel had grabbed him, Marcus decided that it was time to break his silence.
“It’s fine, David. I know it’s not your fault. She’s a bitch for doing that, though. It should be me out there, not her.”
David shifted nervously and coughed before replying. “Not to be argumentative, but you’re actually the worst person for the job, Marcus.”
“Oh yeah?” Marcus was too tired to be annoyed with David, and the monotony in his voice showed it. “How do you figure that?”
“I’m sure that Rachel disabled you because she knew you wouldn’t let her go, but she knows this building and you don’t. She’s far better equipped to handle any problems along the way than you are, Marcus. It’s a fact.”
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br /> Marcus sighed again and turned to face David, leaning his whole back against the tunnel wall. The cold burned through his clothing, giving a refreshing tingle to his sore muscles. “I know, David. I know.” Marcus laid the rifle down next to him and closed his eyes as he spoke. “But we’ve been working together since Richmond, Rachel and Sam and I. We haven’t always seen eye to eye, but we’ve worked well together, and we’ve gotten shit done.
“It feels like a stab in the back for her to run off like this, especially with Sam. I know why she did it, and that it was for the right reasons and that it makes the most sense and all that nonsense. I know all of that. But knowing that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like it.
“What am I supposed to do if she gets hurt or trapped by those things out there? Or what if Doe decides to pop up again with some new scheme?”
David patted Marcus’s arm sympathetically, realizing the connection that had formed between Marcus and Rachel through their shared adversity. “I get it, Marcus. You probably know Rachel better than I do, and I worked with her for years, and if there’s anything I know about her it’s that she can get things done. Period.”
Marcus gave David a half smile and nodded his head in the direction of David’s coat pocket. “What time is it?”
David pulled out his pocket computer and turned it on, verifying the time. “Almost six.”
Settling into his position, Marcus rocked his shoulders back and forth on the wall, trying to work out the tension that had built up in them. “She’d better find the way out soon, otherwise we’re going to have to start trying the tunnels ourselves. That is, if we want to get out of here in time to stop the end of the world.”
Final Dawn: Episode 9
Leonard McComb | Nancy Sims
6:10 PM, April 13, 2038
Sliding along the floor, Leonard shuffled his way toward his rifle while Samuel continued his nonsensical shouting from the front of the store. Every few seconds, Samuel fired another round through the front counter, sending shards of glass and wood showering over Leonard and Nancy. As Leonard finally got within reach of his rifle, the stock exploded, sending Leonard scurrying back as Samuel continued to fire at it.
“I’m sorry, children, but there will be no salvation for you today. You shall not escape the—”
Samuel’s voice abruptly trailed off and Leonard heard him turn around at the same time as a high-pitched growl came from outside the store. Peeking around the counter, Leonard saw Samuel facing out the front of the store, looking beyond the vehicle’s bright floodlights at something moving in the shadows. Caught in a flash of lightning, Leonard spotted what had distracted Samuel and grabbed his attention.
A small creature, barely three feet tall, was crawling on all fours over Samuel’s vehicle. A miniature version of the larger adult creatures, this small one acted as aggressive as its larger compatriots. Its clothing was virtually gone, its eyes had been replaced by hollow silver indentations and its entire body was covered with the tell-tale signs of a nanobot infection. For the first few seconds that Leonard watched the creature, he didn’t quite understand what he was looking at, though once the creature crossed over the vehicle and came in front of the floodlights, Leonard recoiled in horror.
The possibility—and likelihood—of children being mutated by the nanobots was always a remote thought, but Leonard had never really considered it. Seeing the small child approaching Samuel was more disturbing to Leonard than just about everything else he had witnessed. No older than two and crawling on all fours, the small creature’s mouth was wide, revealing rows of metal-infused teeth. Samuel stepped back a pace toward the front desk, getting closer to Leonard and Nancy at the same time, as he had seemingly forgotten their presence.
“What witchcraft is this?” Though Leonard and Nancy couldn’t see it, Samuel’s face had turned white at the sight of the creature, and though his gun was still raised, he hesitated, his finger hovering over the trigger. Sensing Samuel’s uncertainty, the small creature lunged forward as Samuel fired the rifle, sending several shots bouncing wildly through the front door and off his vehicle. The creature’s aim wasn’t as fine-tuned as its older brethren as it only caught Samuel’s shoulder, throwing him off balance as the creature crashed through the checkout desk and landed at Leonard and Nancy’s feet.
Its back turned to Nancy, she felt immediate pity at the sight of the young child helpless at her feet. She started to reach out toward it but Leonard pulled her arm back and pushed her to the side, seeking to put as much distance between the pair of them and the creature as possible. Regaining his balance, Samuel swung around the checkout counter just as Nancy and Leonard had exited through the other side, scrambling to the back of the store. After firing a few shots in their general direction, Samuel directed his attention back to the small creature that was starting to move once again. Picking itself up off the ground, it lunged at Samuel, this time landing squarely on his chest, knocking him backwards to the ground.
Leonard pulled on Nancy’s arm as Samuel began to scream in pain as the creature tore at him with its sharpened nails and teeth. “Let’s move fast, before one of them decides to come after us!”
Running through the back half of the store, Leonard came to a sudden halt as he saw flashes of movement in the dim light from Samuel’s floodlights. He slowly backed up and Nancy looked over his shoulder, wondering why he had stopped.
“What’s going on?”
Leonard pointed ahead at the movement and Nancy squinted, trying to get a closer look. She gasped as she saw a dozen more of the small creatures slowly making their way toward the front of the store. Originally headed for Samuel, the creatures noticed Leonard’s and Nancy’s movements and began to change their direction, half of them splitting off toward Leonard and Nancy while half of them continued on toward Samuel.
A burst of gunfire from the front of the store accompanied by a triumphant shout from Samuel momentarily distracted the creatures, giving Leonard the opportunity he was looking for. “Get going, and grab the bags on the way out!” He and Nancy ran full-tilt for the front of the store, heading for the backpacks they had prepared, which were thankfully on the opposite side of the room from where Samuel was still lying on his back. Their movements caused him to turn toward them, but the chorus of snarls from the back of the store made him turn back once again.
The pack of small creatures was moving faster now, not at their full speed, but aggressively enough that Samuel knew he had no chance against them. His skirmish with the first one had cost him dearly enough, and his chest and arms ached from the severe lacerations inflicted upon him by the first small creature. Facing a pack of them would be suicide, even if he did manage to take a few of them down before they reached him.
Disregarding Leonard and Nancy, who had already left the building and were running down the street, Samuel pushed himself to his feet and hobbled to his vehicle. The creatures behind him came clearly into view as they drew closer to his vehicle’s floodlights, which he abruptly shut off after he climbed in to the driver’s seat. The engine was still warm and easy to start up, and Samuel was quickly back on his way, cradling his chest with one arm while he fought to stay on the road with the other.
Fighting the urge to curse out loud, Samuel focused on slowing his breathing as he tried to get his rage under control. Not only had he been wounded at the hands of one of the demons, but Leonard and Nancy—the ones who had brought the demons upon Samuel’s village—had escaped with nary a scratch. Twice Samuel had engaged them and twice he had failed to do more than frighten them, making him wonder what was preventing him from harming them.
Settling on the conclusion that it just wasn’t their time to die, Samuel set about leaving the city as quickly as possible, hoping to get ahead of Leonard and Nancy before they crossed the bridge located several miles down the road. Samuel doubted that the small creatures would follow him that far, giving him time to bandage his wounds and form a plan for his next attack.
&nbs
p; “One way or another, I’ll get you both, no matter how many of your minions you send at me.”
Rachel Walsh | Marcus Warden | David Landry
6:30 PM, April 13, 2038
The sound of heavy breathing accompanied with soft beeps were the only sounds that echoed gently into the tunnels where David, Marcus and the mutated woman sat. Still astride Bertha, the strange woman’s chest rose and fell laboriously and she occasionally wheezed for breath, her partially mutated body neither fully empowered by the nanobots nor still fully human. Sitting nearby, cross-legged on the floor, David sat with his handheld computer just a few inches from his face. With the brightness turned to its lowest setting to conserve battery life, David struggled with the device as he tried to find some new scrap of information about their current location.
Pacing back and forth nearby, Marcus walked in front of the split where the main tunnel branched off into five separate directions. He was still fuming about Rachel’s actions, but the feeling of frustration and resentment was slowly being replaced by concern.
“Where the hell is she?”
“Just settle down, Marcus.” David pleaded with Marcus without looking up from his screen. Marcus had spent no more than ten minutes seated during the time Rachel was gone. The rest of his time was spent pacing so repeatedly that David idly wondered if Marcus was going to wear a path in the floor. “She’ll be back soon, I’m sure. If that tunnel goes nowhere, she’ll have to come back to check the others.”
