Utopia: A Dark Thriller: Complete Edition

by Adam Steel

  Max had been careful about his route by changing direction several times, in an attempt to confound anyone trying to catch them. As the evening drew on, they had left Sector Eight and Coney City behind. They were heading east.

  Max had taken the car off-road several times when they had been in Sector Eight to avoid farms. There were hardly any usable roads out past Sector Eight, because there was nothing beyond Coney City worth maintaining connection to. There was only Eden in the north and the other outlaying facilities. Max had decided that he had no intention of going anywhere near those places.

  As night had begun to draw in, they had come to the pine forest and back onto a trail that wound through it. The forest was vast and it extended beyond the horizon. Max hadn’t realised that it was there and neither did he care. To him, it was excellent cover. He had been driving for hours and the adrenaline and Apexir had waned from his body leaving him struggling to keep going.

  He was thinking that it was so far, so good. Their luck had held. His optimism was brought to an abrupt end when Aya spoke.

  ‘Max. Where are we going?’ the phantom next to him spoke.

  It made him jump, sending a searing lance of pain through his shoulder. Aya was looking ahead along the darkened trail, which stretched off into the forest. She sounded distant. He paused for a moment. He didn’t know how to answer. Anywhere, sprung to mind. He knew that TALOS would be after them. They were wanted criminals and there was no going back, ever.

  ‘To a safe place,’ he replied, trying to make it sound as genuine as possible.

  ‘Where’s that?’ she replied, sounding miserable.

  Max had no answer. He could hear the tenseness in her voice. She was beginning to recover from the events of the last few hours. Gradually, she was stirring from her state of shock. Aya turned and looked at him. She saw that his face was badly swollen from the beating that he had taken, and beneath the sunglasses, she could see that one of his eyes had completely closed.

  ‘What happened Max? Why didn’t you come back? I’ve had a terrible time since you got sent to jail. I thought you were never coming back,’ she sniffed.

  At least you didn’t spend the last six weeks in Vigilance, Max thought. He looked into her emerald green eyes. They were pleading for an answer.

  ‘Wrong place. Wrong time. It was a mistake. Shit happens babe. I’m out now, but if we don’t get to a safe place and as far away from the city as possible, then neither of us will be worrying about what’s happened the last six weeks,’ he answered.

  ‘Jack lied to me. He got me in this mess. You made me go and see him! He came to my house you know. He made me steal system information. I thought I was helping you. Now look what’s happened!’ she blurted out.

  Her voice was starting to get hysterical and her eyes were growing tearful. Max tried to focus on the road. He felt weak and the pain in his shoulder had intensified. He turned to her again and, in an irritated voice.

  ‘Jack’s a bastard, but he got me out, eventually. Talking of Jack…what’s with the eyes?…Jack’s doing I suppose.’

  Aya rubbed her eyes. They still stung from the device that he had used on her. She ignored the comment and continued berating him.

  ‘My boss was on the Info-Com. They said “I was a witness”. I don’t know anything about that Slash-Knife killer case. It’s all lies. That Info-Pad. A woman on the train gave it to me. It was all on there. Terrible things! That TALOS guard stamped on it. Now I can’t show you!’

  Max listened: confused. He wondered what she was talking about. What woman, what train?

  ‘I was being forced to marry Aarif. I had no choice. They were all forcing me into it and you weren’t there to help me. He’s had that Ajit guy follow me everywhere. Aarif’s evil. Pure evil. I saw him murder that woman, the one in the paper, on that…that…thing…’ she cried, and started to sob harder than before.

  What murder? Please, enough woman. What the fuck are you on about? Just shut up and stop crying, he thought.

  ‘Murder? What woman on a train?’ he asked, trying to sound calm.

  ‘The blonde woman, Abigail - on the train. She told me that they were going to kill me. She said that there was no serial killer. It was all some lie so they could get rid of people. She wanted to know about Aarif. I don’t know why?’ Aya blurted out.

  Max frowned. He didn’t know what she was talking about.

  Aya gasped a few breaths and started again.

  ‘Jack sent this odd looking kid to my house. He scared the hell out of me. He told me to go see Jack at the memorial. When I got there…Jack did this,’ she said, and pointed to her eyes.

  They looked glazed.

  ‘Jack told me that I had to go to the Unicorn Hotel and wait for you, but then TALOS came. I thought they were going to kill you-I…’ she tried to explain, between her sobs.

  She stared at the blood-soaked, bandaged shoulder.

  ‘I’m so sorry Max. I was trying to help!’ she blubbered.

  He was more sorry then her. His shoulder was on fire and he was losing his patience. His mind was a swirl of pain and her voice, felt like a drill boring into his brain.

  ‘Look, just slow down. I don’t understand what you’re talking about? What woman? Who’s Aarif?’ he said vaguely.

  Aya gritted her teeth and exploded on him in anger.

  ‘You just don’t get it do you!’ she screamed.

  Her frail patience had finally snapped and she held up her left hand. On one finger was a splendid ring, with a large, bright blue sapphire.

  ‘Aarif is the man I was supposed to marry! If you took the time to listen to someone else for a change, you’d remember that! He has some kind of evil plot going on with the Masons and you getting me involved with that ‘Jack character’ and breaking into their system, has made them think that I know about it!’ she ranted.

  Max shrank back from the verbal beating. It hurt his head.

  ‘You know what they do to people that find out? They KILL them! That’s what!’ she yelled.

  He was beginning to wish that she was back in a semi-trance state, again. He flinched at her outburst. He noticed that her emerald eyes were shining with a furious fire. He almost liked it. He remembered the early days of their relationship. She had had an inner strength, deep within her. It had been her rebellious streak that had attracted him to her in the first place.

  Aya screamed at him. He tried to keep the car under control, during her sudden verbal onslaught.

  ‘I’ve had slime bags in shabby coats blinding me, crazy people on trains giving me X-rated videos of conspiracy theories, weird phone calls saying that I’m going to die, a hulking gorilla watching every move I make, some monster in a bad suit trying to turn me into some kind of heir-producing-machine, my mother has disowned me, the whole city is looking for me, and my boyfriend has turned into a drug-taking, psycho, CREEP!’ she screeched, and jabbed her finger at him.

  Max was not sure how to respond to her massive rant. She sat rigid, with her arms folded: seething. Well, I did try to warn her, a small voice, echoed in his mind. He debated letting her out of the car, but realised that it would be futile because she could not go back – any more than he could. He concluded that they were stuck together now, whatever happened. His head swam. The smell of his own blood was amplified by the heat inside the car. He could taste its metallic content.

  He peered out of the window screen. The car threatened to crash into the darkened trees, which were on either side of the track. Aya was about to unleash another barrage on him when a steady beeping noise, coming from the dashboard, interrupted them. She immediately fell silent. Her anger gave way to frightened tears, as she frantically searched for the source of the noise.

  “Attention,” an electronic voice chirped.

  Max ground the car to a halt, with a satisfying ‘hiss,’ as the voice continued.

  “Attention. Power cell low. Recharge now,” the voice from the car stated.

  Max swore, as he checked t
he power gauge. It was almost empty. A crackle emerged from the dashboard, as the on-board computer attempted to access the navigation system that Max had torn out.

  “Attention. Your nearest F2-Genie charging terminal is located at - ERROR. NOT FOUND” it stated.

  Somewhere under the dashboard, a blue light was flickering.

  ‘Goddamn electric cars,’ Max spat angrily, as he shut the warning off.

  The forest blackness seemed to close in on them. Aya was shaking next to him. She looked like a frightened rabbit, shivering from cold. Her anger had all dissipated.

  ‘Max, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I just said. Please forgive me,’ she blubbered.

  She started sobbing again. Max thought that her sobs were worse than her ‘screams.’ He couldn’t cope with women when they sobbed. He sighed. He liked her better when she was angry. At least what she said then made sense to him.

  ‘Forget it babe. I kinda deserved it.’

  ‘Max. What we are going to do? We’re in the middle of nowhere and the car’s almost out of power!’ she wailed.

  Max looked at the gauge thoughtfully. He could see that the car wouldn’t last much longer.

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out,’ he said, with a confidence he did not feel.

  The area all around his arm itched. Underneath his uniform, it had gone an unhealthy shade of purple. He could feel his strength draining away due to loss of blood. He had more to deal with than killing Hawkins. The screaming in his head was getting a lot louder. He needed another fix.

  They drove down the dirt track which cut neatly between the rows of imposing pine trees and the moon shone down on them. It lit the dirt track, and guided them further into the maze of ever-thickening conifers. Max was exhausted. He was slumped to one side in the driver’s seat of the electric car. He was finding it hard to drive with only one good arm. Unsure of the directions he kept the speed slow as he picked his way along the dirt track (anxious to reach the end of the track). He didn’t dare to turn the vehicles headlights up any higher.

  He winced, as another stab of pain shot through his wounded shoulder. The dulling effect of the ‘Apexir’ that he had popped earlier was wearing thin and his shoulder was full of searing pain. Underneath his stolen TALOS uniform a steady trickle of blood pooled downwards.

  When they got to the end of the track they saw a hunting lodge in front of them. It looked inhabited. Max slowed the car down and pulled into the car standing area.

  Deer Lodge: The Wastelands

  Night: Tuesday 24th July

  ‘I’m telling ya they’re out there,’ Chuck reiterated for the third time, gesturing at the darkening forest outside.

  ‘Ayup. Sure are,’ Hank agreed, through a large belch of Revive-U.

  Marv kicked back in his wooden chair and scowled. He had the features of a mean rat. He was wearing a hunting hat. It looked ridiculous.

  ‘Bears?’ Marv quizzed sceptically, while adjusting his huge hat over his balding head.

  Chuck slouched in the corner cracking open another can of Revive-U, from the hefty pile of cans that the men had between them. In the corner of the lodge, a dying fire crackled. The men had been drinking heavily since the afternoon, and they were all worse for wear. Beside the fire, another man watched quietly whilst supping on his beer.

  Marv had been the owner of Deer Lodge for the last fifteen years. It was little more than a collection of large, wooden shacks, that had been bolted together and situated deep within the forest. It only had six rooms for rent. The reception doubled up as a bar, where Marv was more than a bit agreeable to sharing out his booze for free: providing that it was with his hunting buddies, who had driven in from the City.

  Chuck belched in appreciation.

  Marv had found the lodge on the outskirts of a ruined village. It had been in a state of disrepair. He had ‘claimed’ ownership of it, by shooting anyone that had gotten too close. He had set up a make-shift gun shop at the lodge and then proceeded to peddle them to the gangs that had risen up around him. After many years he turned the place into an ‘unofficial’ hunting lodge. The village had fallen into total abandonment and decay. It had been replaced by the fast growing forest. However, the dilapidated lodge remained.

  Hank blew his nose loudly. He was an American and was grossly overweight. He wore a black and red checked shirt that strained at the seams over his belly. An antique rifle lay across his lap. He stroked it with a fondness, as though it was his pet.

  ‘Bears,’ Hank answered.

  ‘Sure as shit. Nailed one myself. Big bastard. Only had a forty five on me too,’ he declared proudly, as he tossed a glob of chewing tobacco, into his mouth.

  ‘Then where is it?' sneered Bud, who, up until then, had been sitting: quietly supping his beer.

  ‘Bear my arse. You couldn’t catch a turd in your own pants,’ Bud scoffed.

  Hank spat the tobacco into a glob on the floor.

  ‘Too big ta haul back. But I’m telling ya - A bear - Sure,’ he drawled, in his American accent.

  ‘You’re so fulla crap,’ chuckled Marv, as he popped another can.

  It was hunting night.

  Hank, Bud and Chuck had come up from Coney City. They were maintenance workers from one of the industrial plants in Sector Six. The truth was that (despite the numerous trophies adorning the walls of Deer lodge) none of them, had actually, ever caught anything in the woods. For them, it was an excuse to get very drunk, and get lost in the woods, but nevertheless, they enjoyed the campfire stories about what they had almost shot. It did not stop Marv claiming outright (to anyone that would listen) that the woods were full of game, and his was the premier hunting lodge.

  ‘How would you know? They coudda got out of the zoos years ago or they coudda added bears…out there. They’ve ingineered the whole damned forest,’ Chuck added defensively.

  Chuck had claimed the credit, for being instrumental in helping to bring down the ‘alleged’ bear.

  Bud sneered again from his corner.

  ‘They could have ingineered Bigfoot for all you know, wouldn’t be surprised either. Boost the tourism. But that don’t mean you two jackasses would catch it,’ Bud teased.

  Chuck spat alongside Hank’s tobacco glob, and looked back out the door.

  A car was pulling up outside alongside his, and Marv’s truck. Marv’s forestry truck had a sign down the side. It said. We cut – You burn. Someone had added: “In Hell”

  ‘Fuck me,’ Chuck said, shifting his backside, and farting loudly.

  ‘Marv, I think you got a customer,’ Chuck said in a surprised voice.

  Marv squinted into the darkness outside. He could see a man climbing out of what looked to him, like a very expensive car. Mentally, he increased the rate of his rooms by thirty per cent. It took him some effort. Marv thought that he could see someone else in the car, but he couldn’t see clearly enough from where he was sitting, because the reception counter partly blocked his view, and he had no intention of moving.

  The man got out of the car and walked towards them. Marv noticed that he was wearing some kind of green, workers outfit, and that it was a bad fit. As the man entered the light of the lodge, Marv could make out the words: “Sector 6 Glassworks Refinery” on the breast label. The man wearing the green outfit gave them all a cursory nod, before approaching Marv, who was sitting behind the counter. Marv put a finger to one nostril, and blew out the other into an ashtray beside him. It made a disgusting ‘burbling’ noise.

  ‘Evenin’ Buddy,’ Marv said, looking the badly beaten man, standing in front of the counter.

  ‘Lost an argument with a brick wall Mr?’ Marv sniped.

  ‘Something like that,’ Max replied.

  Max smiled at him, trying to hide the agony in his shoulder. He hoped that the blood wouldn’t seep through to the worker’s outfit that he had stuffed over his TALOS uniform.

  Max was thinking about the dead Excelsior outside. It had been a God-send. It had everything, he thought
. Except power. The car had been all but dead, when they had seen the light from the lodge coming through the trees. Max had gotten into the workers outfit that he had discovered in the boot. It seemed to him that the glass-recycling factory (where he had stolen the car) was so automated, that whoever had gone to check on it, hadn’t bothered to change into his uniform, because there was nobody to see it. Max liked lazy people. They were very useful.

  Max glanced around the reception of Deer Lodge, while Marv got out of his chair, and started to look through the clutter on the counter. Max looked back at the pair of deer antlers, hanging lopsidedly over the door, and (noted with interest) that either side of the entrance door, were two antique rifles. It was supposed to be a hunting lodge, but Max doubted that anyone actually used the place for that purpose. He thought that it was more likely that it was used as a knocking shop for the adulterers who didn’t mind a long commute.

  He had left Aya in the car because she had too much blood in her hair, and he couldn’t trust the men inside the lodge. He knew that once they saw her, they would twig that something was up, because she looked like a nervous wreck. He had popped another Apexir, to dull the pain, before leaving the car to secure a room. He had been acutely aware that he was heading for an overdose, but he had known, that he had had to try and appear normal to whoever was inside the lodge.

  Max looked at the surly man behind the counter. He was trying to find a set of keys amongst the rubbish which was lying around the reception. Max was thinking what a ridiculous hat that the man was wearing. Max was looking at the collection of things around the counter with genuine interest. It was covered in assorted hunting memorabilia and the wall behind the counter was adorned with a collection of old hunting knives. There were knives in sheaves: knives with bone handles: knives with jagged edges and knives with leather tassels. Nice, thought Max, for the second time that day. Things were definitely stepping up from the queer-mobile and its fine assortment of hair curlers, he thought.