by Mark Lingane
They had reached the large service gates, which began to close, one from the floor, one from the roof. Gavin’s foot had been across the gate cavity, and he toppled over as the gate rose. Melanie leapt over the gate and beckoned for the others to follow her. She shied away as more laser fire came in.
On both sides of the gates, they were receiving heavy fire. Melanie and Gavin were safe, but the approaching cyborgs had a large amount of firepower, and the time to get through the gap was rapidly diminishing.
“Go fast.fast.fast,” said @summer.
Isaac looked terrified.
“Go, Isaac,” she said.
He hopped from foot to foot, unable to summon the courage to squeeze through the two large sheets of industrial steel.
“Forget it,” Melanie called out. “We’ll have to try and find each other somehow. @summer, where should we go?”
“Follow the left wall. It’ll lead you into the core. Just keep left,” she shouted as the gates closed.
“Oh great, we’re split.” Sebastian turned and pushed Isaac.
“Hey, I was scared.”
“We don’t have time to be scared.” A laser beam reflected off his breastplate, narrowly missing @summer’s head.
Her eyes went wide. She ducked down a large air vent and the other two followed her.
48
THE GATES CLOSED and the laser fire ceased. The sounds of battle diminished to a stomach-churning recollection, distant but disturbing.
“I hope they’re going to be all right,” Melanie said. She ran her hand over the scarred metal. Her friend was on the other side, and the fear in her heart said she might never see him again. “Be safe, friend,” she whispered.
She looked into Gavin’s eyes, held his hand and made a wish. They turned and ran up the corridor, keeping to the left-hand wall. They rounded the first corner and were confronted by a small maintenance group of cyborgs in mid-repair on an air-conditioning unit. One shouted and reached for his gun. Melanie engaged an arm and unleashed a lethal battery of rounds into the group. They crumpled to the ground.
Melanie ran up and kicked a cyborg in the stomach as he reached for his gun. He fell unconscious. She picked up the high-tech weapon and handed it to Gavin.
“I don’t think you need to reload these. Could be handy.”
“But it’s small.”
“Size doesn’t matter, pretty boy. It’s who you stun with it.”
A loud scraping sound echoed down the corridor, followed by the sound of metal bending.
Melanie and Gavin looked at each other.
“They’ve breached the service doors,” Melanie said.
They heard shouts and several heavily armed cyborgs appeared around the corner. They paused when they saw their fallen comrades, then raised their weapons and started firing.
Melanie and Gavin ran away from the pack and turned at the first left they found. It was just past the narrow, semi-concealed alleyway immediately after the air conditioning unit. They ran on, oblivious as they missed the left turn they were meant to take.
@summer tore down the long, narrow corridor. It narrowed even more, causing the boys to slow as they bounced savagely off the walls and the occasional piece of equipment sticking out.
@summer sprinted ahead gracefully, somehow avoiding all obstacles. She came to an intersection and paused, turning her head from side to side.
“Which way?” hissed Sebastian.
“I don’t know. This isn’t part of the plan.”
“This is your fault, Isaac,” Sebastian said. There was a deep menace in his voice.
“I’m sorry,” Isaac said, although his eyes said otherwise. “But you didn’t exactly jump through.”
“I was waiting for you. Always waiting.”
“Calm down,” said @summer. “This isn’t the time for a lively debate. Any constructive criticism can be presented to the active participants at the allocated time.”
They both stared at her.
“Er,” Sebastian said.
“Um,” Isaac said.
“Shall we go now?” The two nodded sheepishly. “We go left,” she said. “It smells better.”
“I really don’t like the look of this place,” Melanie said. The corridor had ended in a large dank room. It was unbearably hot. A strange fungus lined the walls. Searing heat radiated from the ceiling and walls. Strange slithering sounds echoed around the walls. They searched around the room, but couldn’t find an exit other than the one they had come through.
“We must’ve missed the turn. We need a map,” Melanie said.
She stood in the center of the room with her hands on her hips. Her Gatling guns were disengaged and hung limply at her side. She shook her head, and the sweat flew off and landed on the floor. She looked at the entrance and didn’t see the fungus crawl over her sweat. She lifted her boot. It made a sucking sound and green tendrils clung to her sole.
“She said keep left, that should be enough,” Gavin said. “We can’t exactly stop and ask for directions.”
“You wouldn’t anyway.” She looked up at the ceiling.
Gavin wrinkled his nose. “Have you taken your shoes off?”
“Of course not.”
“Something smells bad. Real bad.”
“What was that?”
“What?”
“Didn’t you hear something? Slithery?”
“No. Don’t tell me you hate snakes.”
“No, only spiders. Is the roof glowing?” She pointed up at the spot directly above her. “What’s above us?”
“Stop with the questions. God, it’s hot. What is this place?”
Melanie noticed something white in the corner. With difficulty she pulled her foot off the ground. Both feet were finding the floor remarkably sticky, to the point of slowing her down. She bent over and wrenched off the white object. The green fungus covering the ground stretched out, refusing to come unstuck.
“I have a word in my mind,” she said. She turned the bone in her hand. “Lair.”
The green tendrils hanging from the bone snapped away. The severed tendrils hung limply then lunged for her, wrapping around each other to reach her head.
She hurriedly threw the bone away, wide-eyed. “I think we should get out of here.”
There was no response.
“Gavin?”
The wall started to writhe in front of her. Long tentacles started to form, part metal plates part organic material, wrapping together and searching for food.
She started to back away. “Gavin, we’ve got to get out of here. Now!”
She turned and was horrified to see Gavin with a long tentacle wrapping around his throat, around his chest, squeezing the life out of him. She could hear his ribs beginning to grind together.
Her guns were deactivated so she reached behind for her sword. A tentacle grabbed her hand from behind. She cartwheeled on the spot, clicking her heel and exposing the long knife hidden in her boot. She sliced into the green feeler and it retreated, freeing her hand. She ripped out the sword and slashed through the tree trunk tightening around Gavin, pulling him free.
The tentacle retreated, curled around itself and lunged forward, splitting into two. She parried and slashed across them, severing both pieces. The lumps fell to the floor and dissolved back into the fungus on the floor. The metal plates moved, sliding across the floor in strange rotating patterns.
Gavin was gasping for air. He glanced up and his face filled with horror. Melanie saw the expression in his face. She looked behind her. A tree of tentacles, thick as an oak, was writhing and searching for living flesh. She took a deep breath. With the fetid smell filling her nose, she held her sword in both hands and twisted them around the grip tightly.
“Get over to the door,” she shouted.
She looked down. One tentacle had started wrapping itself around her foot. She smiled. The blade in her boot was still extended. She kicked up, slicing into the green material, sending it spinning with a shard of metal into the
air. She slashed at two more coming from her left, spun and brought down the sword on the lump developing before her.
She stepped toward the door and four tendrils curled down from around the exit. She cut one and it split in two, each piece moving twice as fast. She parried one with both hands on her sword. The blow knocked one hand away, but she held on grimly with the other. The second fast-moving tendril wrapped its sticky skin around the arm that held the sword and pulled her back into the room. Another wrapped around her leg, and a third reached out for her waist.
The first fast-moving tendril came for her face. She grabbed it in her hand and squeezed it with all her might. It slid out of her grip, leaving her hand covered in the sticky green fungus.
The end of the tentacle opened up, revealing rows of white metallic teeth disappearing back down the long dark tube. It let out a high-pitched screech and slid closer and closer to her face. She tried to move her head away but she was caught. She tried desperately to move her left hand but it was trapped by the tentacle, which was thickening and growing, rendering her defenseless.
A laser beam came searing in from the doorway, cutting off the end of the thrashing tendril. It fell lifelessly to the floor. Melanie turned her head and her heart lifted when she saw Gavin with his cyborg weapon.
She grabbed a small knife from her belt and thrust it into the branch around her arm, which loosened as she drove the blade in. As she twisted, the tentacle made the sickening sound of flesh being torn, almost making her dry-retch. She ripped her arm out of its clutches and slashed it with her sword. She circled the sword around her head, then pirouetted, dancing furiously with the sword. The green fell all around her. She slashed, cut and stabbed her way to the door, with Gavin firing as frantically as his weapon would allow.
She stepped out into the corridor, grabbed him by the collar and kissed him. She sheathed her weapons and they both ran down the corridor.
49
THREE PACES WERE all they managed before a small skynet of heavy-set cyborgs rounded the corner. Both parties reeled back in surprise.
Instantly, the cyborgs leveled their weapons and fired. The lasers lanced down the corridor, bouncing off the walls and exploding. Some of the cyborg fire shot straight past into the chamber behind them, where a hissing, screeching sound was beginning to build.
The skynet parted and up through the center strode the largest cyborg Melanie had seen. He towered nearly two feet over the other cyborgs. He lifted in his left hand a large, metallic cylinder surrounded by thinner rods. The cylinder had cables trailing around to a pack on the cyborg’s back. The rods started to spin around the large cylinder at a speed that emitted a low hum, which got progressively louder and higher. A blue ball of light formed at the end of the cylinder.
Melanie twisted and dove for cover as the lightning exploded down the corridor. The light impacted her shoulder and knocked her spinning across the ground. The pain flattened her, paralyzing her, and she fought against unconsciousness.
The corridor was filled with another blinding flash of light as a second blast of lightning flashed toward them. It hit Gavin directly in the chest, buckling his armor, which caved into his body before melting. Blood exploded out of him as he was rammed against the wall by the force of the blow. He looked over to Melanie and slumped to the floor. He reached out for her, but his hand fell limply. His eyes stared straight ahead at her, but were empty. Blood poured from out of his mouth and streamed down his body onto the floor.
The large cyborg pulled a lever on his huge weapon. He aimed it back at Melanie. It whirred, the blue ball of light appeared and she closed her eyes.
Nothing happened.
She opened her eyes and saw the cyborg fumbling with oafish fingers with the machinery. There was a loud spark and the blue ball dissolved.
The skynet came running down the corridor. Two went to Gavin and picked up his limp body. They turned and left.
She tried to cry out but the pain was too great. There was a black blur in front of her face and a cyborg boot crashed into her head, knocking it backward and into the wall with a sickening thud. Punches flew into her body, and her blood spilled over the floor. She curled into a fetal position and wrapped her arms around her head. The metal of the Gatling guns protected her back but the blows kept coming.
She heard the whir of the large cyborg’s weapon start up.
She kicked out as hard as she could at the nearest cyborg, who staggered. They retreated and formed up around the large cyborg, who readied his weapon.
On her knees, with her matted hair falling over her bloodied face, breathing heavily and with her shoulders back, she rocked back the Gatling mechanism and glared at the cyborgs staring at her. “I’m not afraid,” she cried.
The cyborgs, as one, looked past her down the corridor. The green-tentacle beast was emerging from the dark lair. Half slithering, half lurching, the hideous creature lunged forward like a great, deformed walrus.
The cyborgs turned and fled.
Melanie wiped the tears from her eyes and slammed her arms into the Gatling enclosures. The beast towered above her, thrashing its extremities. Melanie gritted her teeth and pulled the trigger. Bullets roared into the beast. She screamed out her rage as pieces of the beast flew around the corridor, the green material landing with a wet squelch.
From around the corner came a small, bouncing metal ball. It stopped beside her. Her eyes darted to the side and she held her breath. The flashing lights embedded in it started to flash rapidly. She leapt for the ball and threw it into the green beast’s lair. She rolled to the side and tried to take some protection from the doorframe.
There was a beep, followed by a moment of deadly silence. The ball erupted with a roar and the explosion engulfed the passageway. Flaming bits of the green fungus squelched down onto the ground and a thick, foul-smelling smoke filled the area.
Melanie staggered up and put her hand over her mouth as she started to dry-retch. The smoke stung her eyes as she ran, blinding her, confusing her. She ran down the corridor feverishly searching for the right passageway. She had taken many turns following the sounds of running feet; now she was lost and the passages all looked the same.
She slowed her run to a walk. She looked ahead, not seeing anything, lost in thought. She stopped, turned, kicked the wall and screamed. She hammered her fists into the steel walls as she howled. She collapsed to the floor and sobbed with an uncontrollable rage running through her. She held her bloodied hands to her face and sobbed. There was nothing more she could do. Except breathe, and even that was a challenge.
She leaned against the wall, sitting on her knees, exhausted, distraught, lost inside and out. Her gaze was unfocused.
After a moment her eyes began to follow the line where the floor met the wall. It was dead straight. Flawless. Machined. Perfect. It reminded her of some of those who pretended to be friends in her previous life. A perfect life, full of perfect things. Except for her. She wasn’t perfect. She was born broken, and everyone had made her pay for it.
The inside of her burned with hatred and anger. Everyone had taken everything that had meant anything. Her chin weakened and tears welled in her eyes.
Everyone except for one person. One person who never judged, who never asked, who was always there, who had saved her. The one who had given her something to lose.
She glanced up. A squadron of cyborgs had swept around the corner. They hesitated when they saw the look in her eyes.
Even if Gavin had been lost to her forever, she could certainly do something about Sebastian and protect him for all she was worth. She turned and glared at them. She clicked back both guns. A red haze descended over her eyes. There would be revenge. They would pay for it, every single one of them.
She fired.
A rain of bullets blew into the cyborgs as they charged. Lightbeams blasted down the corridor, but bounced off her reflective armor. One cyborg sliced in from her right. She parried with her barrel, reversed her hand and grabbed his thr
oat. She brought her other gun around and punched into his stomach, firing for several seconds. He crumpled to the ground.
She ducked as another swung a great sword over her. She twisted around and stood up, screaming, and blasted both barrels into the cyborg. The third on her left fell away as she kicked high, and the blade in her boot sliced into his throat. The fourth received a head full of bullets that smeared his brains over the wall behind him.
She walked on, her hair flowing, her body shining, the floor behind her strewn with the dead bodies of cyborgs, the walls splattered with blood and mechanical fluid. Her own blood trickled down her arms.
She stepped around the corner, released a safety catch on a trapdoor and plummeted downward.
50
THE SMELL HAD become stronger. Isaac and Sebastian both wrinkled their noses.
“It reminds me of school,” Isaac said. “The way Mrs. Bumblebee bleached the place twice a day, down on her knees, scrubbing hard with her body shaking. The image never leaves you. Especially first thing in the morning when you’re not expecting it.”
“School,” Sebastian said. He sighed. “I miss it. Things were so much simpler then.”
“I told you about your thinking. School’s something you don’t miss unless you’re weird. Didn’t all those terrible meals teach you anything?”
Sebastian smiled.
@summer stopped and examined a panel in the wall. She clicked a small square, barely visible, into the wall until it disappeared. The panel slid open, revealing a long passageway that fell down into darkness. A strong wind roared out of it, whipping their hair around.
@summer looked down the long tunnel into the darkness. She clenched then unclenched her fists and leapt.
“She jumped,” Sebastian said.
“We’d better do the same,” Isaac said. “How are you with heights?”
“Heights, not a problem. Depths, on the other hand … a completely different game.”
