After [A Journey of the Twins Novel]

by Janet Durbin

  The floating sentry shot into the room on the heels of the big cat, its robotic arm extended, the deadly light firing from its tip. Drizzle ran past Drayco and toward the robed figure. At the last possible second, the cat veered away to avoid running into him. The Boss was so startled by the animal's actions that his shot went wide and hit the floating ball, which in turn, caused its shot to go wild and slice him across the mid-section.

  The floating ball fell to the floor with a thud, its power drained and the camera lifeless, the laser silenced forever.

  The Boss dropped to his knees, holding his abdomen with both arms. A large pool of blood spread out around the robes. Drayco struggled to his feet. He staggered toward the wounded enemy. As he neared, the Boss's head went up and the hood turned in his direction. He tried to raise an arm, to point the weapon in his grasp at Drayco, but was unable. He was losing blood fast, and his strength was going with it.

  "Why? Why did you do this?” Drayco asked.

  "I wanted the secrets the girl carried in her genes, the secret to long life. I could have been young and beautiful again. I could have lived forever.” A blood filled cough escaped from the darkness of the hood, splattering red moisture across the front of the robe. “I didn't have much time. The machines used to keep me alive were failing. Now I will never find what I was looking for."

  The hood fell back to reveal an ancient woman. Wrinkles riddled with tiny blue veins covered her pale, bony face. Her hair was thin and wispy and the color was as white as a snow-covered mountaintop. Drayco could not tell for sure how old she was, but knew from her appearance and the way that she spoke, it was a considerable number. She leaned her head forward, hiding her face in her bloody, gloved hands. Drayco could hear crying. He almost felt sorry for this retched, old woman. Then he remembered all the people who had died because of her.

  "What did you do to my sister?"

  The Boss remained silent, her head down. Drayco almost thought she had died until a ragged gasp escaped from the thin, pale lips. She lowered her hands to her lap and said, “She has been drugged. Stop the fluids running into her and you will stop the medicine."

  "How long will it take to wear off?"

  "I only wanted to live forever ... is that so bad? Now look at what's happened. Why ... why did this have to happen? I didn't do anything wrong.” The old woman ranted to herself, the dark man standing next to her forgotten.

  Drayco knelt down in front of the Boss and grabbed her shoulder with his good hand. He shook the old woman lightly to try to rouse her from her rambling.

  "How long? How long will it take?"

  "I only wanted to live forever...” The old woman looked up at Drayco, but did not see him. She was in a place far away. As the dark twin watched, her eyes glazed over and her head fell back. She was dead.

  "How do I help my sister? How do I get the tube out of her throat? How?” Drayco yelled as he shook the body harder and harder even though he knew it would not help.

  He threw the Boss aside and stumbled over to Shyanne. Grabbing her hand, he bowed his head and took several deep, raspy breaths to prevent himself from losing control. He looked up at her sleeping face. Tears ran down his cheeks for the first time since they had been kids.

  She's so beautiful. I have to find a way to help her. I have to.

  After getting his emotions under control and wiping the tears off his face, he went to check on Joseph. He remained unconscious. The head wound had stopped bleeding. Since he was not in any distress, Drayco went to check on Ruben. He glared at the big man and thought about ridding the world of the slimy being, but the idea of drinking anything from this man made his stomach curl with disgust.

  Drizzle had watched the entire scene between the dark twin and the Boss while it unfolded. When Drayco shook the dead woman, then tossed her aside to make his way to Shyanne, he had followed.

  Drayco reached up with his good hand and rolled the clamps for the IV tubes shut. With Drizzle's help, he disconnected them from his sister's arms. He looked at the machine beside her, but had no idea how to take the breathing tube out. The Boss had given him no information or clues. He knew that if he pulled it out without taking the proper precautions, he could do more damage than good. He had never felt so helpless.

  His vision was still blurry. It was getting better, though, and his head hurt less. He looked up at the monitors. The green line against the dark background flowed steady across the screen, showing Shyanne's heartbeat. In frustration, he glanced around the room and saw a desktop computer tucked in a corner, almost hidden by some equipment.

  "Maybe that will have the information I need. Drizzle, stay with Shyanne.” The cat nodded his head.

  Drayco moved to the corner, pulled the chair out, and sat down. The computer was on. Unfortunately, the mouse was meant for a right-handed person. At present, his right hand was useless. It tingled, but he still had no control over it. He moved the mouse to the other side of the keyboard and operated it as best he could with his left hand.

  Watching the monitor come to life, he muttered to himself, “This brings back memories."

  He saw several icons on the left side of screen. He recognized the medical one and double clicked on it. The screen changed to reveal information about medicine and medical equipment. He scanned through it and found all the information he could on the extubation of people from a ventilator. He read everything thoroughly to make sure he would do the job right. He was about to return to Shyanne when he saw a symbol he recognized. It was the one put on trucks a long time ago when they hauled hazardous material.

  He was curious as to what it contained so he clicked on it. The file opened without a password, allowing him to read the entire contents. He felt his body grow cold the further he read. When he was finished, he paused. Now he understood what had happened and how the virus had escaped. He also thought he understood what the Boss was after and how she had survived all these years.

  The Boss was one of the original scientists who had helped create the virus. Her name was Francine Jacobs. She had worked with their father. Early on, through gossip, she had heard about some of the changes people who survived had undergone and wanted it for herself. She had hoped that by working with the blood of one of the survivors, in particular, Shyanne, she could discover the secret of her youthfulness and longevity of life and use it for her own aging body. Unfortunately, for her, she never got the chance.

  Drayco hit the delete button and watched the dreadful information disappear. He stood up and was about to return to Shyanne, but had a feeling something wasn't right, something was out of place. He could not place a finger on it. A glance toward Drizzle and his sister showed nothing out of the ordinary. Both were asleep. He looked around the rest of the room. After a couple of passes, he discovered what it was. Ruben was gone. The big man must have awakened while he was busy and slipped out without notice. He searched just to make sure. He was nowhere in the room.

  A moan escaped from Joseph. Drayco went to his side. He was sitting up, holding his chest and his head at the same time.

  "Son of a rizbak's butt, my chest hurts. My head hurts too.” He ran his fingers over his face and discovered the dried blood. “What happened?"

  "You took a pretty good hit there."

  "I'm feeling every inch of it."

  "I need your help."

  "What can I do?” Joseph looked at the dark man; he noticed his arm. “You okay?"

  "Yeah. I need you to pick up a piece of equipment for me and smash it apart."

  Joseph looked up at the large equipment behind him and said sarcastically, “Yeah, right."

  Drayco ignored his comment. He returned to the computer he had recently vacated. “This is what I want smashed. Can you do it?” He touched the tower with his foot.

  "That, I can do. Are you sure you want me to?"

  "I'm sure.” Drayco shuddered when he thought about what he had just read. The idea of the virus getting loose again was an all too real possibility as long as t
he information remained available. He wanted to make sure it could never be retrieved, even though he had deleted it. He stood back and watched as Joseph rose to his feet and wobbled his way.

  With a grimace, Joseph picked up the tower and smashed it against the ground, causing the outer casing to shatter. At Drayco's insistence, he pulled out his sword and sliced at the mess of wires and circuitry on the floor, cutting up everything until nothing was left together. Breathless from the effort, he put his sword away after Drayco indicated for him to stop.

  "Thanks. You have no idea what you just helped prevent."

  Looking at the broken computer, he said, “I think this world is not ready for whatever is down here. I know I'm not.” He turned and caught sight of his love. “Shyanne...” He ran to her side and picked up her hand. “Drayco, can we help her?"

  "Yes, but I'm going to need your assistance again. I can't do it with my arm like it is."

  "You've got it. Tell me what I have to do."

  Joseph's expression grew serious, and his eyes filled with determination. After making sure Shyanne was able to breathe on her own, Drayco directed his movements. The breathing tube was removed safely.

  "Now we have to wait until she wakes up to see if anything else was done to her."

  Drayco walked over to the other hospital bed and sat down on it. Joseph followed. Drizzle remained with Shyanne, his long time companion, to make sure she was going to be okay.

  "What happened after I was knocked out?"

  Drayco informed Joseph about how the Boss had been tricked into killing the floating ball, using the same weapon he was hit with. And about how, in return, the ball had killed the Boss with its deadly ray. He pointed to the heap of robes lying on the floor with a pool of blood surrounding it.

  "Ruben was here too, but he got away when I was busy trying to figure out how to get that blasted tube out of Shyanne."

  "When we see him again, I'm going to kill him without even a second thought.” Joseph's tone was laced with deadly intent.

  "The surprising thing was the Boss. I expected a man under those robes. It was nothing more than a very old woman who had lived longer than she should have."

  "A woman! Well—I don't care who she was—or how old she was, I'm just glad to be rid of her."

  "I'm with you there.” Drayco reached up and put a hand on the other man's shoulder. He thought again about what he had read concerning the virus and the Boss. He knew he would never tell the others any of it. It was not something that needed to be dredged up.

  Joseph could see that the dark man was hiding something, something that gave him a haunted look. When Drayco is ready to tell me about what's bugging him, he will Until then, I can wait.

  Over by Shyanne, Drizzle stirred. She moved her head back and forth. The two men got up and returned to her side.

  Joseph leaned close and whispered, “Can you hear me, my love?"

  "Of course I can, you nut.” Her eyes fluttered open as she turned her head toward him and smiled.

  Joseph smiled back, kissing her softly on the nose. “I missed you. I'm glad you're back with us."

  "Me too,” Drizzle said as he stood up on his back legs. He licked the hand resting on the bed closest to him.

  She reached up and gave his cheek a scratch. “Missed you too, you big galoot.” A loud purring echoed from the cat's throat.

  Drayco stayed back. He let the ones closest to his sister finish. He loved her very much and was glad she was with them again, but he knew he was third in this group.

  Shyanne frowned. She looked to either side, trying to see where Drayco was. She reached with her arm when she finally located him, indicating for him to come over.

  He moved to her side and grasped her hand, holding it tight. “I'm glad we arrived in time."

  She reached up and touched the gray streak of hair above his left eye. “I love you, brother."

  "I love you too, little sis."

  She smiled again and closed her eyes. She fell into a deep, restful sleep. The men and the cat watched to make sure it was not a deadly leftover response to the drugs.

  They decided to dispose of the Boss’ corpse before settling down to rest. The thought of having it in the same room while they slept was unnerving. A section of the robe shifted while the two men rolled the body over. It revealed a small lump underneath, close to the area that had been cut. Joseph opened the robes to discover a belt of some kind attached to a compact box covered with knobs.

  "Do you know what that's for?” he queried when he saw it.

  "It looks familiar, but I can't remember right off what it's for. It will come to me sooner or later."

  They picked up the little bit of a woman and carried her into another room adjacent to theirs. It was filled with cleaning supplies. Some of the towels stored there were brought back and used to soak up the blood spilled on the floor.

  "You need some rest. I'll take first watch,” Drayco said once they finished. “I'll wake you up in three hours. Drizzle, you can do the final watch."

  "Do we really need to post a watch?” Joseph asked.

  "With Ruben's whereabouts unknown, I'd feel better with one,” Drayco answered.

  Joseph nodded his head to those words. “I see your point."

  Drayco walked over to the door for to the generator room, and stopped. He watched Joseph throw himself on the spare bed and fall asleep almost before his eyes closed. Drizzle stretched out on the floor next to Shyanne and shut his eyes.

  I bet that cat won't sleep an ounce. He's just humoring me so I'll leave him alone ... can't say as I blame him, though.

  He left the room and sat by the generator to think about what had happened in the last few hours. He kept part of his senses on alert, though. With Ruben loose, the dark twin did not want either him or another of those floating sentry death-balls to catch him off guard.

  Suddenly, he sat forward. “Now I know what that belt was for. It was an anti-gravity belt.” Wonder filled him. “Well I'll be damned. I thought those things were found only in comic books. Looks like those books had some basis in fact to them after all."

  He sat back and began to think about the other item he had seen when they moved the body. The weapon used during the battle was still clutched in the dead woman's hand when they rolled her over. Neither of them touched it for fear of accidentally firing it and killing someone in their party.

  The more he thought about it, the more the whole situation reminded him of the science fiction comics he had read as a child: the weapon, the anti-gravity belt, the really old villain trying to find secrets beyond her comprehension. Drayco had a feeling that if he took the time to search around, he would find the very comics he had read stashed away somewhere.

  As the night wore on, Drayco knew what he had to do. He had been without technological advances for two hundred years. The idea of having to be without them again did not fill him with as much regret as he thought it would. He missed a few things, like fast food and television, but the times had changed, and he had changed with them.

  It was hard to tell if it was night or day in the world above because the lights were always on and their bodies were weary from all the recent action. Time had lost all meaning down in this haven of the past. After what he assumed was about three hours, he returned to the room and woke Joseph for his turn. He crawled onto the still warm, recently vacated bed, curled onto his side, and entered the land of slumber.

  * * * *

  The next day, or what was assumed to be the next day because of the lack of sunlight, everyone was up and moving. Shyanne had dark bruises on her arms from the needles, and her throat was sore, but otherwise she felt like a new person. Joseph was sore and bruised from when he'd been thrown into the machinery by the Boss’ weapon. He was stretching to loosen up the tight muscles when Drayco told the trio what he had planned during his watch.

  Shyanne agreed it was a good idea, although she had mixed feelings, like Drayco. She missed the comforts technology offered. Eve
n so, it felt weird to use it after doing without for so long. Joseph simply claimed that everything in the underground complex was an abomination.

  By now, the dark man's arm had returned to normal and would work fully when it came time for the equipment to be busted up beyond repair and the generator destroyed.

  The group accomplished what was needed, first by light shining down from the ceiling, then by the glow of the flashlights found during their journey. The doors leading from their present position to the large, empty room were propped open to prevent the group from being trapped after power was lost. With everything destroyed, the four made their way to the big, empty room where the stairs lead upward.

  "That about takes care of everything.” Joseph shone a light in Drayco's direction. “What now?"

  "We go to the stables, get our horses, and ride the hell out of this town. I'm sick of this place."

  "Boy, I couldn't agree with you more,” Shyanne added.

  "Drizzle, lead the way."

  The big cat started up the stairs. Joseph put an arm around Shyanne's waist, and together they started up. Drayco paused, glanced back at the vast darkness and followed, the light in his hand turned off to conserve the batteries.

  It seemed like an eternity had passed when they finally reached the top of the stairs. The batteries for Joseph's light gave out as the group stood looking at the door, trying to figure out how to open it. Drayco turned his on. Without the generator, the door would not respond to the Drizzle's claw. That was when they realized the spare batteries brought with them were down in the destroyed room below, along with the pouch.

  "Great! Now what do we do?” The frustration felt by Joseph was evident in his voice. “First we had to deal with some old hag and her muscle bound crony, now we have to find a way to get out of this tomb. Man, all I want to do is to go home!"

  "It's okay, Joseph; we'll get out of this.” Shyanne reached up and put her hand lightly on his arm.

  He grabbed it, gave it a soft squeeze, and smiled. “I'll be fine; I just miss my simpler way of life, that's all."