by Jason Keizer
Henry and Captain Hammer walk into the range room, rifles in hand. “What the hell is this? Why would they have a damn range down here?” Captain Hammer asks.
James points behind the Captain to the other room. “They even had an armory. Not much is left, but there are probably a couple guns and some ammo in there. We can check it out after we finish these last few rooms.”
He turns and looks down the range and lets out a small sigh. “Well, if we had one or two in here, we could have had a little bit of target practice.”
James turns back around towards the door, “Well, shall we?”
Captain Hammer turns around and walks out of the range and down the hallway, followed by the others. When they make it out to the central area, James says, “There are three rooms left on the left side over there. The far end on the right looks open and seems empty, but not gonna take a chance on that. Oliver and Jessica can take the first room, Henry, you and Hammer take the second. First team done can join me in clearing the last room and the open area to the right.”
Everyone lines up on the left wall. Oliver takes the lead, followed by Jessica, then Henry, Hammer, and James. They slowly walk to the first door and stop. Oliver and Jessica stay at the edge of the door as the other three step to the side and push past them. At the second door, Henry and Hammer stop as James moves forward.
As James moves forward to the last door, he turns his aim to the open area. The closer he gets to the door, the more the open space reveals itself. Behind him, he hears a door getting kicked open, followed by a second one. Slowly moving forward, sights aimed at the open area to his right, the back of a small vehicle appears. As he moves forward, the rest of the vehicle shows itself, a small two-seat four-wheeler with a cargo rack on the back. As he gets to the door, one more four-wheeler shows itself.
James steps on a piece of glass from the broken door. He stops as he hears Oliver yell, “Clear.”
A couple seconds later, as Oliver and Jessica bound back out of the room, Henry yells out, “Clear.”
Henry and Hammer join Oliver and Jessica as they move to the third door, by James.
James steps from the wall, onto more broken glass, and into the last room. The broken door leads into a small opening, on the other end, another broken door leads to a larger room.
“Looks clear, but be cautious,” he says as he steps over more glass and through the doorway.
James quickly ducks down a little as he hears a couple spray nozzles shoot out air. He steps through the second door and into the room. The others follow behind him and stop as they see what is inside.
Lining the wall in front of them, except for another door at the right end, and the wall behind them, also except for the door, are pods. Oliver steps forward and looks at the pods in front of him. “I'm guessing this was once a sterile room. Would explain the small area and spray nozzles. But for what?” He wipes the dust off of one of the pods, exposing an Arctic.
Over his shoulder, Jessica asks, “Is that an arctic?”
Next to her, Henry kicks some glass on the floor and waves his hand over to a broken pod. “Yeah, I think so. Looks like one got out. Probably the one that got hatchet-faced earlier.”
James wipes off the pod next to the door they came in as he says, “Well, that would explain the broken ass skeletons on the floor.” He looks closer at the Arctic in the pod, “Hey, do they look weird to you? The one over here is kinda thin. Like, really thin. Like it was starved to death.”
Everyone wipes off a pod in front of them and looks at the Arctic inside of it.
The skin on all the Arctics faces tightly clench against their bones. The lips of their mouths, ripped with pieces of string dangling from them, are shrunken and peeled back, exposing their teeth. Their necks, so thin and fragile, sit above a sunken and easily seen rib cage. Thinned out arms and legs protrude from their torsos.
“Why do they kind of look like mummies? And what is dangling from their lips?” asks Jessica.
After a couple seconds, Oliver responds, “Maybe these pods are preserving them. They look like their lips were sewn together. I wonder how they starved to death.” He turns away from the pod. “We have had one in a lab for months with a sealed mouth, and it is still as strong as the day we brought it in.”
Henry turns around and points to the door across from him. “Maybe there is some sort of answer in there.”
James moves in front of the door and orders, “Henry and Oliver, stack up. Should be a short room.”
Henry steps forward and next to the door. As Oliver gets set behind him, he looks to his left, at the Arctic in the pod. He gives a small shiver and turns his attention to James. James nods three times and swings open the door, towards himself. Henry and Oliver, weapons raised, push forward into the room.
After a couple of seconds, from the room, Henry calls out, “All clear.”
James holds the door open and swings his left arm in front of him as he gives a small bow.
“Please, after you,” he says. Jessica and Hammer walk past him and through the doorway, and James follows.
In the room, there is a large counter top in the center, with a centrifuge, three computers, and a couple of microscopes on it. Tables line the right and left walls with various medical equipment. There are two large glass refrigerator units on the far wall. James steps around Jessica and the Captain while shuffling over to the glass doors of the fridge. Captain Hammer joins him as they look at the many vials of blood on the shelves. Each vial has a barcode on it and various colored tops. Henry looks at them and stops at a small unit of vials with green tops. “What are these?” he asks.
Henry replies, “Um, I'm pretty sure that is blood.”
Captain Hammer points at some blood on the top shelf and says, “Yeah, but look. This is human blood. You can tell cause the color.” He points to a section on the bottom shelf. “This is Arctic blood. Shit is bright red. Completely different than humans.”
He bends down and points at the vials with green tops, “What is this stuff? It's not bright red like Arctics. It's kind of a darker red, like us. But it's just odd looking. Like it's just a little bit off. Kinda has an orange tint to it.”
As he stands straight and turns to look around, everyone is quiet. The Captain looks at Jessica to see the same confused look on her face.
“It's mine.” James softly says.
His voice getting a little louder, but still soft, “Well, not mine. But from someone like me.”
Captain Hammer takes a step back. James continues, “It’s what happens when you become an infected like me. Not quite human, not quite Arctic.”
Captain Hammer sighs. “So, we need to make sure that it doesn't leave this place right?”
James, shocked, looks at Captain Hammer, who continues, “I understand what it is. I don't get what you are yet, but expect to sometime. So, for now, I will push all your weird shit to the side.”
James stares at him for a second as his face changes from shocked to happy. “See, I knew you couldn't hate on another cheesehead.”
He opens up his arms and holds them out to his sides, at shoulder height. “Come here, let's hug this shit out?”
Captain Hammer shakes his head and replies, “Not a chance in hell, asshole.”
Henry slaps James' right wrist, forcing him to drop his arms. “Now that you two are good. Think we can get out of here before you two lovebirds start getting it on?”
James looks over to Henry, “Well, that's not going to happen. He hasn't even bought me dinner yet. What kind of man do you take me for?”
He giggles a little bit as the Captain walks out of the room, shaking his head. “Aw, don't be like that. I’d take a handy if that makes you feel better,” James sarcastically yells towards him.
Oliver looks around the room a little and says, “How about you guys go check out that armory really quick. I'm gonna look around and see if I can find anything worthwhile in here.”
“Sure thing,” Jessica says as sh
e turns and steps out of the room.
As James walks out, Henry asks, “You want anyone to stay behind with you?”
Oliver shakes his head. “No, I think I can manage. Just gonna check if I can get info from anything in here.”
Henry turns and starts to head to the door, “Ok then. Suit yourself.”
TWENTY EIGHT
Henry walks out onto the main floor area, catching up with the others. Everyone is staring at the Arctic on the floor. A large gaping wound splits the top of his skull in half, a frozen puddle of blood formed around it.
Jessica stares at it and asks, “How do you think it was able to stay alive for so long? Its mouth is shut closed like the others in the pods, but it didn’t starve like them.”
Captain Hammer shrugs his shoulders. “How should I know? Seems like everything from the last couple days has been nothing but a confusing ass riddle with no answer.” He looks around at everyone. “Have any of you even seen one of these things eat? Never even thought they could starve to death.”
Henry bends down and takes a closer look at it. “Nope. I always just thought they just killed everything for no real reason. They aren’t like zombies or anything like that. Never seen one eat before either. But they kinda need to eat something.”
Jessica, still staring at it, confused, slowly says, “What would they eat then?”
Henry stands back up. “Now that would be the million-dollar question.” He looks over to the two ATVs and says, “Oh shit. Seems like we’re gonna be ripping it up on outta here with those thangs.”
James replies, “Yeah, but they only have two seats each. So, we will have to load most of the gear on one so someone can sit on the cargo rack of the other.” He looks over to the two broken indoors of the other rooms. “Anything useful in those rooms?”
Jessica looks back to the room she went in. “Not in mine. Just a break room. It's pretty trashed though. Doubt there is anything worthwhile in there.”
She looks over at the Captain, who says, “Same here. Mine just led into a large bathroom. Unless you want to pack a couple more rolls of shit tickets, nothing in there.”
Jessica looks back at the bathroom door, says, “An extra roll or two never hurt,” and turns to head over to the bathroom.
James turns towards the two ATVs and says, “I'm gonna go check to see if these things work. I'll catch up in a few.”
Henry slaps the Captain on the shoulder and says, “Well, looks like it's me and you again brochacho. Let’s go see what is in that armory.” He takes his hand off of the Captain's shoulder they both start walking to the armory.
As they walk through the door, Captain Hammer says, “Kinda odd they had this type of stuff behind a regular door. Never seen an arms room that wasn't like a damn safe.”
Henry walks over to the back wall and grabs something from the top of a weapons rack. “Yeah, that's true.” He waves over to the Captain, “Hey look at this. Have you ever seen anything like this before?”
He hands the Captain what looks like a large ring with a handle and a barrel sticking out from it.
The Captain looks it over. A six-inch barrel sticks out from the front of a large cylinder drum with a closed end, out about three inches from the back. At the top right of the drum, there is an ejection port. Just under it and to the right is the bolt stop. Under the barrel, sticking out from the drum, sits a small retractable handle with a red safety button at the end, seated above a trigger. He looks at the barrel and then at the drum. In the semi-clear plastic drum, sits a spring and four shotgun shells.
“I think it's a shotgun.” Hammer slides his arm through the hole in the drum. “But, it sits like a gauntlet on your forearm.”
Henry looks at it for a second, turns around and grabs another from on top the weapons rack behind him. He slides it on his arm just as Jessica walks through the door.
“Hey Jess, look at this,” says Henry.
Jessica looks at his new wrist accessory and asks, “What is that?”
Henry lifts his arm and shotgun up in front of his face and looks it over. He replies, “I'm pretty sure this is some type of shotgun.”
He moves his hand around with his wrist, making sure nothing of it makes it in the way of the barrel. “Yell out to the others that we are gonna test this out, please. Then come join us.”
Jessica nods her head, turns around, and walks out into the hallway. Henry kicks one of the ammo crates, moving it slightly. “Seems pretty full,” he says as he picks it up. “Well, let’s see how these things work.”
They walk onto the range, and each takes up a spot next to each other. Henry sets down the crate of shotgun shells in between them and points his hand with the shotgun downrange. He looks at it and sees two shells are still in the drum.
“You'd think these assholes would clear their weapons before putting them back,” he says.
Next to him, Captain Hammer bends down his wrist and grabs onto the handle. He flicks his wrist back straight, and the handle flips up with his hand. As hammer grips the handle, he can feel the edge of the trigger on his index finger. He tries to squeeze the handle and the trigger, but nothing.
He leans back a little and says to Henry, “Looks like the safety works,” before going back to looking down range.
Hammer straightens out his arm, but makes sure he doesn't lock his elbow. His thumb moves over the red button and presses down on it. Once again, he tightens his grip on the handle, squeezing the trigger. BAM! A shell goes off.
“Damn that was nice,” he says as Henry leans back and around to see the Captain.
“How bad is the kick?” Henry asks.
“Not as bad as you would expect. Why? You afraid to hurt yourself?”
Henry laughs as he shoots down range. BAMBAM! Both his rounds fly through the barrel, and the shells eject almost straight up into the air.
Henry slides the shotgun off his forearm and sets it down on the table in front of him. He bends down and pulls the top of the crate off. Inside of it, are five full boxes of shotgun shells. “We have about a hundred rounds in here, so, everyone can shoot a couple. Figure that should be good enough for us to test these and have some ammo to bring back.”
Captain Hammer replies, “Yeah. And don't forget to grab the empties. They may take up space, but they are worth a pretty penny back home.”
Henry grabs a box of shells and sets it on the table. He pulls out a couple shells and starts to load them. “Yeah, but you can't sell them. Well, at least you aren't supposed to. I thought soldiers need to turn them in for the army to reuse.”
Captain Hammer shoots another round. BAM! He turns back to Henry and says, “I'll turn in mine. But would you be willing to split the pot with me after you sold yours? Cause I know you don't have to turn them in like I do.”
Henry lets out a small laugh and says, “Damn boy scout. Look at you trying to get a little extra from the system. That's a bit surprising.”
The Captain takes one more shot, BAM, and says, “Today has been nothing but full of surprises. Besides, I have a wife and a little one at home. I just want to have the money to do something special with them when we get back and not break the bank.”
Henry loads the last of his five rounds, slaps the bolt forward, and says, “I hear ya on that one. No worries, I got you.”
Walking on to the range is James and Jessica. James says, “ATVs are up and running. Should get us out a safe distance, but not sure after that. Fuel is looking a bit iffy.”
Jessica adds, “That will all depend on what is on the other side of that tunnel.”
Captain Hammer sets down the shotgun from his arm and turns around. “Try these out. We found them in the armory. Not much else in there. Well, nothing that looked useful at least. Just parts and stuff like that,” he says as he walks toward the doorway. “I'll go load up the ATVs.” He walks past James and Jessica and out the room.
James steps up to the range that the Captain left and grabs the shotgun. “This thing is a damn sho
tgun?” he asks Henry.
Henry hands him a handful of shells and says, “Yeah, pretty bad ass right.”
As James takes the ammo, Henry steps out of the way for Jessica to take a spot at his range. “I'm gonna go help out Hammer and then see if Dexter is finished in his laboratory,” he says as he makes his way out of the room.
Henry follows just behind the Captain as they walk to the bags at the main door. When they get to them, they each pick one up and swing it over a shoulder. “I hope these things can hold all this weight, cause James’ bag is heavy as hell,” Henry says as they turn and walk toward the ATVs.
Over his shoulder, Captain Hammer says, “Yeah, they should be okay. But if it is too much weight for one, someone is gonna have to use their lambor-feetsies.”
“Well, it might be you taking the walk. You probably are the heaviest out of all of us,” Henry says as they pass the Arctic on the floor. They make it over to the ATVs and set their bags on them. As they start to turn around to grab the other bags, Oliver walks out from the lab area.
“Hey, I think I found something,” Oliver says, holding something in his hand.
Henry looks at it from across the room and asks, “What is that?”
Oliver lifts the object up. “It’s a tape recorder. Anyone got some AA batteries to get it to work?”
Both Henry and the Captain shake their heads. “Nope, but we can get some in Serra when we get back to one of the cities,” Henry replies.
Oliver, now standing just in front of Henry and the Captain, says, “I’ll help you guys get the last of the bags.”
As they are lifting the last three bags on their shoulders, James and Jessica walk out from the hallway to the range and armory. James has the open crate under his left arm and two shotgun gauntlets in his right hand. Jessica has a gauntlet around her right wrist. They meet up with the rest of the team in the middle of the floor as they all walk to the ATVs together.
The men set the bags on the ATV to the right as James places the crate of ammo on the one to the left. “Hey, we have two of these things left since Jessica already called dibs, who wants the other ones?” James asks as he holds the two gauntlet guns in the air.
