“We have our best humans and Genari working on the situation,” the man said calmly.
“So there is a situation?!” one of the men shouted.
More people joined in, shouting and asking for answers.
“Everybody! Calm down before I order you back to your rooms. You all know what happens if you defy my orders!” the man shouted above the cacophony of voices.
Everybody hushed at that.
“I heard it’s a new alien creature. Something worse than the Xenomortises,” a man shouted. I turned to look at him. He was standing in the back of the crowd with his arms crossed. He had a smug look on his face, as if he was happy about whatever was going on.
“If you think we have something to do with this, Paul, you’re wrong. We’re just as clueless as you are,” a Genari said to him, taking a step forward to show he wasn’t afraid of him.
It unsettled me to my core to hear a Genari say a name like Paul so casually. This place was strange, and I definitely wasn’t used to it all yet.
“Oh, that’s comforting to know,” a woman said from the crowd.
“So there’s some sort of creature out there that not even the aliens know anything about?” another person shouted.
The voices began to rise again as people began demanding answers from the man standing in front of the door, behind which I assumed held the people trying to figure out whatever was happening.
“You hear that?” I said as I turned to John. “There’s some alien they don’t know anything about.”
He looked at me, his eyes wide from both realization and then fear. “You think they could be talking about the atras?”
I nodded my head. “Could be. If that’s the case, I think we’re about to become very useful to them.” John smiled as I turned around. “Follow me,” I told him.
I began pushing my way through the crowd. People gave John and I sideways glances of disdain, wondering why we were pushing our way to the front. The crowd began to grow, and it became more and more densely packed. I wondered how they even found about what was going on in the first place. I must have missed the Hey guys, there’s a weird creature out there we know nothing about memo over the intercom.
We reached the front and were just a few inches away from the man who was doing his best to keep the crowd contained with his words. Guards stood on either side of him, keeping them at bay with their menacing demeanors and the Taser guns they held at their sides.
“Sir,” I tried shouting to him, but he was too busy arguing with another citizen. “Sir!” I shouted again.
This time he gave me a sideways glance but turned his attention back to the other people who were shouting at him.
I knew exactly what to say to get his attention, though. I took a deep breath and shouted. “I know about the creatures! I’ve fought them on the outside!”
The whole crowd silenced, and everyone turned to look at us. I gulped, and my mind began to scream at me to run away. John and I had just become the most popular people in the Bunker.
“’What are your names?” the man asked, eyeing the two of us.
“I’m Miles; he’s John.”
The man reached behind him and opened the door. “Please follow me.”
Chapter Nine
Miles
I stepped into the room. It was illuminated by screens on the wall that showed the image of one of my worst nightmares. An atra paced at the entrance to the cave. I didn’t know what it was doing there, but I didn’t want to find out either.
“What the hell are you doing, Joshua?” one of the scientists in the room asked when he saw us enter the room.
“These two kids say they know what that thing is,” the man who brought us to the room—Joshua—said as he pointed to the television screens.
“Are you the two people who snuck in here?” one of the ladies asked. She had short gray hair and wore horn-rimmed glasses, the eyes behind which filled with fear and stress.
“Yes, we encountered those things outside. I’ve spent years out there, but I’ve never encountered them until recently. They travel in the shadows and in darkness. They disintegrate if they come into contact with sunlight.”
The Genari and the humans in the room looked at each other while murmuring to themselves, considering what I just told him.
I walked up to one of the Genari and asked, “So you mean you don’t know what these things are?”
“I am unsure,” the Genari said. His face was contorted in a way that I assumed meant he was slightly offended that I asked him that question.
I felt the chill go down my spine as I looked to the cement ceiling. The fact that the Genari didn’t know what these things were terrified me to my core. If this wasn’t some sort of Genarian creature, then what could it be? Where could it have come from?
“You say their weakness is sunlight?” a male scientists with long gray hair asked.
“Yes,” I said. John nodded in agreement. “Like I said, they travel in the darkness and in the shadows. They have a solid form, it seems, but at the same time, they are very fast and flexible, almost as if they’re liquid.”
“Kind of like an octopus,” one of the scientists said, turning to study the atra on the screen.
“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.”
I could hear the people in the door behind me as they continued shouting, trying to get answers.
“Somebody call more security. Get those people out of here,” the scientist with the long gray hair said to another person in the room.
As they called for more backup, Long-Haired Man turned to another person. “We need to get UV lights set up at the entrance and anywhere else they might be able to get in.”
I looked at John and raised my eyebrows. Not only did it sound like they had lights that simulate sunlight, which would protect us from the atras, but it seemed like there was more than one way out than just the front door.
Long-Haired Man turned to me and extended his hand. I grabbed it and shook it. “Thank you for your help, Miles. I’m Dr. Porter, the head scientist here in Bunker Bravo. Once we get some preliminary precautions set up against these atras, as you called them, I’ll be coming to you for more information regarding these creatures.”
“Well, I’m happy to help in any way I can. I want to find out what those things are just as much as you do. I saw three of them alone take out an entire settlement. They’re not something to be messed with.”
The scientist nodded his head. “Yes, it seems that is the case. But don’t worry, I think we will be safe here. But the outside just got a lot more dangerous.”
I nodded. He was right. The outside world was a lot more dangerous than living inside the secure walls of his bunker. But I wanted nothing more than to get out of this place and back with my friends and family. They needed me, and the longer I stayed in the Bunker, the more unlikely I’d be able to save them from the Roves. But for now I would play along, the whole time searching for a way out. The first chance I could get, I would make my way back to Jefferson Memorial.
Chapter Ten
Daniel
Daniel walked toward the hotel in the center of town, which was the living quarters for all Riven citizens. Daniel stepped into the hotel lobby and took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He wasn’t sure why, but they had boarded up the windows. There were some lanterns around the lobby that gave off a soft amber glow.
Daniel walked straight to the back of the lobby, a group of people eying him as they walked past each other. Daniel shook it off and turned left down the hallway. The hallway had rows of doors that led to different conference rooms. He remembered Pete mentioning that he would be in the second door on the right when he saw him on the way to Rocco’s that morning. Daniel walked to the second door and knocked on it.
“Who is it?” Peter asked in a muffled voice from the other side of the door.
“It’s me, Pete,” Daniel shouted.
Daniel could hear Peter shuffling toward the door
for a few moments before it finally swung open.
Peter huffed Daniel’s face. “This place sucks,” Peter said as he stood aside, gesturing for Daniel to enter.
Daniel chuckled at Peter. “Come on, Pete, you’ll get used to it. Besides, even if you don’t, it’s not permanent.”
Peter walked around a table that he had set up with various scientific instruments. He gestured to it as he spoke. “Their instruments are so archaic. And they aren’t even going to let me use any electricity. Have to use these lanterns that strain my eyes.”
Daniel pointed at the cast on Peter’s arm. “Are you sure it’s not that thing that’s hurting you?”
Peter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is the fact that I’m straining my eyes in order to see anything in this room. Although this arm isn’t helping either,” he said.
“Well at least got a cast on that thing,” Daniel said.
“Oh yeah, great. It’s fantastic.” The sarcasm dripped from Peter’s voice.
“Well just make do with what you can for now. Rocco, the leader, is going to send me to Jefferson Memorial with a few scouts. If it’s not too impossible, he’ll lend us some men and supplies.”
Peter leaned up against his table. “Well, hopefully they’ll be able to get this situation taken care of. At Jefferson Memorial I use the generators an hour or two whenever I needed to. Here? Forget it. They don’t have a single generator here, much less the gas needed to power it.”
Daniel leaned up against the table opposite of Peter. He glanced over the instruments Peter had laid out. “Yeah, that is strange, right? A place like this seems like they’d have a lot of generators. Seems like everything is all archaic.”
Peter nodded his head. “Yeah, that’s definitely one way to put it.”
Daniel sighed and returned his attention to Peter. “Well, I actually came by here to ask you a question. What do you need to start doing some preliminary research on those atras?”
“Well, a good place to start would be getting some of that black liquid from inside the newspaper room in Brinn. Hopefully the sunlight hasn’t melted all that away.”
Daniel nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll see about getting some people together and doing that tomorrow. Maybe if I can get them to trust us more, they’ll be more willing to help out whenever we go scout Jefferson Memorial.”
Peter nodded his head. “That sounds good to me. If you need me, I’ll be in here trying to get this skeleton of a laboratory set up.”
Daniel chuckled and looked at the mess on the table in front of him. “You have fun with that, Pete.”
Peter mumbled something under his breath that Daniel ’didn’t quite catch, but Daniel smiled as he turned around, only imagining what Pete could have said.
Daniel left makeshift laboratory. Now that everything was in place, it was time for him to start getting some answers.
Chapter Eleven
Ira
The sun blasted Ira as she marched down the road at the back of the slave chain. She shuffled down the road mindlessly, her feet begging for rest. She had only been walking for an hour, but with the heat and the constant tug of the people she was tethered to constantly reminding her to pick up the pace, she was wearing thin. Even worse, there seemed to be quite a way to go before they reached the place called Jefferson Memorial.
“Have you ever heard of the Roves going this far outside of Dallas?” Isabel whispered back to Ira.
Ira looked behind her to make sure the guards at her back weren’t paying attention. They were a few feet back, and the two of them were talking amongst themselves. She faced forward, looking at Isabel’s back, tied to her just a few feet ahead. “No, I haven’t,” Ira whispered back.
The rope jumped up and down as they walked together. Ira rubbed at the cuffs at her wrist, as the heat and sweat rubbed her skin raw.
“What do you think this place will be like?” Isabel asked.
Ira was glad Isabel couldn’t see her face. It had a look of annoyance on it. Ira didn’t care to speculate about what their new place of torture would be like. All she really cared about was putting one foot after the other and not passing out. “I don’t know, Isabel. Maybe they’ll give us a prize for being the first slaves at this new outpost,” she said with biting sarcasm.
Isabel chuckled, finding Ira’s sarcastic joke more funny than it actually was. A guard at the back heard Isabel’s laugh.
“Hey, quiet down. Just walk,” he shouted at them.
Ira marched along at the back of the line. Fourteen people marched along ahead of her.
The only sounds were those of the guards murmuring and of feet scraping across the ground. Ira wished she were riding in the back of a truck like slaves usually did when transported. It was rare that they marched this long in a slave-line like she and her crew were being made to do. The only times this would happen was when gas was low, when there weren’t enough vehicles to spare, or there were too many people being transported. She figured the latter was the case in this instance. Especially since this Jefferson Memorial Bank place was somewhere far away. They wouldn’t send gas-guzzling trucks that far, especially just for some slaves. They weren’t worth the gas to the Roves even though the slaves were the ones holding up the Rove empire. The slaves did all the work, and the Roves reaped the rewards.
Ira’s mind wandered to her past as it usually did when she was doing something mindless. She thought of the settlement she lived in with her family. They lived in an apartment complex outside of Dallas and had a good life for a while. Then the Roves decided they wanted what she and her people had and took everyone for slaves. At least, those who didn’t fight back. Those who fought back were shot, like Ira’s brother. She could still remember the look on her older brother’s face as he was shot down by a Rove soldier as he tried to fight for her freedom. She tried to force the thought out of her mind, but she was finding that task difficult. Her mind had nothing else to think about because all she knew was pain and darkness.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the gun going off. Her head jerked up as the slave-line stopped.
“Why you stopping? Keep going. The threat has been taken care of,” the guard from behind her said.
Ira looked behind her for a split second and saw the twitching body of a zombie lying on the ground. Apparently, it had gotten a little too close.
“Hey, I said turn around and walk,” the guard said.
Ira turned her head forward. She continued to shuffle along the deserted road outside of Dallas, begging for the moment when she would no longer have to walk anymore.
A couple more shots rang out behind her, and Ira’s heart beat faster. The guards didn’t seem to be making a big deal about it, so she knew that she was safe. Well, relatively speaking. But still, they were outside the Rove border, and there were a lot of zombies on the outside. Zombies were something that she didn’t have to worry about with the Roves. They had all sorts of different lookouts, guards, and walls set up. The zombies were not a problem, and if there ever did become a problem, they were taken out swiftly.
But she was not in Rove territory anymore. Now, there could be zombies anywhere, and there were only five Roves with guns to keep them at bay.
At the same time though, the zombies could overpower them, and it might mean death for her. That was something that couldn’t happen when living within their borders. Then again, she could become undead. That was not something she wanted to experience, as it seemed to be a fate worse than a Rove slave. Ira felt inkling of fear within her. Not a fear of death, but a fear of becoming undead.
Ira continued walking down the road when more shots began ringing out around her. Something wasn’t right; there were too many shots fired this time. She looked behind her and saw zombies emerging from the pits on the side of the road. The two Rove guards behind her were shooting them, stopping in their tracks in order to have better aim and accuracy.
Shots pierced th
e air from front of her, and she whipped her head around to look. The three Rove guards at the front of the slave chain were shooting at zombies who were emerging in front of them.
Everybody in the chain stood perfectly still, watching the Roves take out the zombies with ease. Isabel turned and met Ira’s eyes, filled with fear. Ira tried her best to look strong, but she could tell she was failing. She didn’t want to be killed by zombies, and while the chances of that happening was slim since the Roves seemed to be taking care of the situation, there was still a chance, and that frightened her.
A guard behind her screamed. Ira turned and saw a zombie sink its teeth into one him. The other guard looked on the scene, not sure if he should try and shoot the zombie, for fear of shooting his comrade. That was just enough distraction for the zombies to get the jump on him and take him out too.
Now the air was full of screams. Those of the dying, those of the undead, and those of the slaves, who began to run.
Chapter Twelve
Ira
Ira let out a shout in pain as her body slammed to the ground. She hadn’t been looking, so when everybody in the slave chain started to run, she wasn’t ready.
She was drug across the ground, gravel and rock tearing into her skin as she tried to stand up. She couldn’t. Everyone was running too fast.
She let out yells of pain as her head hit the ground. Her body was being torn apart by the road. To her relief, everyone stopped.
She looked up, her body racked with pain. But then she saw why everybody stopped.
More zombies were coming from in front of them, blocking the way. She tried to stand, but the pain she was in and the fact that her hands and feet were bound kept her on the ground.
Isabel turned and reached down to Ira, and Ira began to reach out to grasp it. Before she made contact, however, a zombie came from nowhere and took Isabel down to the ground.
Retaliation: The Mortis Desolation, Book Two Page 3
