Lia, Human of Utah

by Greg Ramsay

  “I found an armoured military Hummer that was abandoned. I also found these clothes and some discarded weapons in it. I used it to get to where I met Wanderer,” she said.

  Steele relaxed again, then replied, “Ya, all that was mine. The Hummer was overwhelmed by the black beasts. I had to abandon it to regroup with the others. We killed all but one of them, that was when we met Wanderer. He jumped on one as it was about to finish me off and ripped the throat right out of it. Wanderer and the Sergeant,” she nodded towards John, “bonded, and he’s stayed with us since, acting like our faithful radar.” Steele smiled at the dog, an element of gratitude shown in her eyes. Wanderer went to sit beside her for attention. “Since the stuff in the Hummer was yours, do you mind if I keep the clothes?” Lia asked.

  “Not at all, it’s not like you have anything else. I have backups,” Steele replied. Lia smiled, but looked at the dog, slightly curious as to how it could do what bullets couldn’t. Steele looked at Lia for a moment, gauging her toughness, then asked. “How long have you been travelling?”

  “About a month, I think,” Lia replied.

  Steele laughed, “How did somebody as dainty looking as you manage to fight off the Black Beasts for so long?”

  Lia smiled defiantly. “When I got bored of them being around, I killed them. For the record, I call ‘em shifted. Black Beasts sounds like a bad gimmick band.”

  Steele snickered then smiled challengingly. “Do you think you could handle me?”

  Lia laughed, “Perhaps,” she stated, counting on Steele underestimating her. Steele turned to her men.

  “Ok boys, put the packing on hold and go set up an armed perimeter around the back of this building. We’re gonna dance. That’s the only real way to measure her worth anyway.” They walked out with Steele leading; John stayed behind a moment.

  Before he left, he turned smiling at Lia, “Good Luck,” he said, smiling briefly. Lia just smiled back, then strode behind him.

  These new people felt strange to her somehow, but not enough to place it. Why does he seem familiar...?

  They walked around to an alley attached to the back lot of the apartment building; the others covered the alley including the sides of the building as Lia and Steele turned to face each other. Steele drew a combat knife from her boot, tossing Lia a spare casually. They sprinted up to each other as Steele jabbed her blade forward. Lia easily weaved away from the strike. She jabbed her knife towards Steele’s chest, but Steele deflected her arm with an upward jab then tossed her knife to her other hand. Steele swung the blade sideways toward her. Ducking, Lia let herself fall backwards before connecting her hand to the ground behind her and putting all her force into driving a kick into Steele’s gut. Steele grabbed Lia’s outstretched leg tightly, bringing her knife down toward it. Lia kicked the knife from her hand with her free leg by slamming her foot into her wrist. Steele’s grip on her leg released in reaction to the pain in her wrist just enough for Lia to kick her in the gut with her free leg, leveraging herself free easily. Lia rolled, kicking out at her legs, which sent her temporarily staggering as she grabbed both of their knives off the ground beside her. Steele managed to recover her footing in time to put up a defensive stance right as Lia leapt on her. She pinned Steele beneath her as she held a combat knife against her neck, and poised the other knife above her, ready to strike. Steele laughed, seeming to enjoy having been defeated.

  “Ok, I tap out, you win.”

  Smiling dangerously, Lia pulled the knife from Steele’s neck before climbing off her. Steele got up from the ground, brushing herself off calmly. Lia spun the knives in her hands, offering them back to her handle first. Steele took her knives back, putting them away.

  “Looks like you got your ass handed to ya, Captain!” Private Grant exclaimed humoured.

  “Shut it, Grant,” Steele said with a dangerous smile on her face.

  “You did though,” John said, as everyone joined in with relaxed laughter. Lia followed the others as they headed back into their apartment/base.

  When everyone had settled in seats, Steele turned to Lia. “We’re what remains of the 107th Prowler division, Canadian spec-ops team, currently stationed in Utah. We’re considered, or were considered the best of the best of the best in the military, save for Grant; he’s just a stray.” Grant gave her a dirty look. “What I’m wondering is how you’re so good; were you spec ops?

  Lia thought for a moment. “I don’t know; as strange as it is to say, I woke up in some mall. I don’t remember anything before that.” Her nagging feeling persisted lightly; she dismissed it.

  Steele eyed her skeptically. “Strange,” she commented dismissively.

  Lia noticed her look. “So, what brought you guys here?” she asked.

  Steele considered the question briefly. “After the shifted, as you call them, became a serious threat, the government tasked us to come down and confirm the source, as well as a cure, if possible.” She grimaced. “They knew where it started, but left it alone because they couldn’t be bothered to act until it spread. We were basically just sent as a political distraction; they already knew it was too late, but they just didn’t care.”

  Lia watched her quietly. “Did you end up finding anything?” she asked.

  Steele shook her head slowly. “No, we never even made it into MiraiCorp’s main building. After we got attacked on the highway we were forced to retreat all the way to our current position. Since then we’ve basically just been trying to survive, moving from place to place as needed. Anytime we tried to get closer to MiraiCorp, it was always surrounded by groups of shifted drawn by our gunfire so we never made any real headway.”

  Lia raised her eyebrow slightly, surprise evident in her expression. “That’s unfortunate, but at least you’re all okay.”

  Steele nodded. “Right. Shall we head inside? I’m surprised we never drew any attention, best not to push it when we’re moving soon.” Lia nodded in reply, then they headed back in.

  Black eyed the kynari in Lia’s hand that had seemingly appeared out of thin air when she wasn’t looking. She looked directly into Lia’s eyes intensely. “Where’d you get that?” She gestured to the kynari.

  Steele piped up, “I was about to ask that myself.”

  Lia lifted it up holding it comfortably in her fist. “I found it in one of MiraiCorp’s smaller facilities; it had been left there for whatever reason. Perhaps for more testing.” Lia shrugged, inwardly cursing the Leader for bringing it out so suddenly.

  Black continued to watch her carefully. “Interesting,” she said. “I’d heard of specialized weapons being developed in Utah, but thought that was only a rumour handed down from higher ups.”

  Lia looked at her. “Specialized weapons?”

  Black’s eyebrow raised slightly, her eyes not losing their edge. “What did you think you were holding... a fancy engraver?” she laughed sarcastically. “As MiraiCorp’s successes in the field of pharmaceuticals grew they were quickly eliminating their sources of income. So, they made the jump into different applications. While they dealt with what would eventually become the L strain, they were also negotiating with governments including their militaries to purchase their new forms of weaponry.”

  Lia looked at her surprised. “So they basically jumped from curing to killing?”

  Black shrugged. “Pretty much, why just cure when you can essentially double-dip.” Lia went over to the couch to sit, resting her kynari in her lap; Steele sat across from her as before. “It’s just exploiting an ideal business opportunity. First you make cure-alls that make people feel invulnerable, then when they inevitably decide they’re bored of peace, you make them buy their fancy weapons from you,” she added.

  Lia nodded. “Makes sense in an unfortunate way, ironically no one needs wonder weapons when the cure-all made them inhuman monsters...”

  “Apparently you do... where did you hide that the whole time you and Cap were scrapping?”

  Lia eyed her calmly, unsure how to respon
d. Everyone, especially Black, was still watching her carefully but she pretended not to notice. “In my pocket.” The atmosphere in the room was slightly tense.

  “And why were you surprised when you found out we hadn’t broken into MiraiCorp’s main facility?” Black demanded with a measured tone, her eyes alight with suspicion.

  “I got in easy enough all alone... it was almost like he wanted me there,” Lia’s said quietly, distracted by her unintended inner reflection.

  “How the hell did you manage that without getting torn apart?! And who is he?” Black exclaimed, frustration evident in her tone. Everyone seemed just as interested in her answer. Lia gripped the kynari, running her thumb over it gently.

  “I fought my way in, killed everything, then destroyed the place on my way out,” she exclaimed confidently. Steele looked at her, a hint of agitation apparent in her gaze.

  “Bullshit. You’re a subpar fighter at best; there’s no way you dealt with all the shifted in and around the building, let alone got all the way here afterward. Besides, you didn’t answer the rest of my question,” Black said

  Lia smiled. “Yet here I am.” She ignored Black’s last remark, not inclined to talk about that part yet.

  Steele considered her for a moment. “Ok, if I were to concede the idea that you did all you claim to have done... how the hell did you manage to do it?”

  Lia looked at the soldiers, all heavily armed but wary, then down at her lap. She stood up slowly. Black reached for the hilt of her katana reflexively as she slowly raised her arm, then casually rolled up her sleeve. Everyone had their sights on her the tendrils tore from her arm, forming a gauntlet over the exposed skin of her hand. The room was silent, but Lia could feel the tension in the air; she smiled gently as she had the tendrils recede slowly, mending the bleeding skin as they went. She turned to Steele. “That’s how,” she said affirmatively.

  “What the hell are you?” Grant asked anxiously.

  “Does it matter?” Black asked. “She’s obviously one of them. I say we put it down!”

  Lia glared at her. “Is that a fact? Then explain to me why I’m not just tearing you apart right now?” she asked bluntly.

  Black shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t care, you’re a threat... that’s all there is to it.” Steele gestured to her hand without lowering her guard. “You say you aren’t one of them, yet you just exhibited you are, so what difference is there?”

  Lia laughed. “Simple, I control it. You just saw that for yourself.”

  “So you think...” Marks said coldly. “When reports started coming out of what was becoming of people, those who were attacked always insisted they’d be fine. Who wants to end up in quarantine right?” He shrugged slightly. “They were always wrong.”

  Lia turned to him. “How did the infection spread?”

  Marks looked at her confused. “The shifted stab their claws in people, or bite... either way their little vine things get in there.” He shuddered at the memory. “Those who manage to survive seem fine for a while. In fact, they seem better than fine, but it doesn’t last...” A look of restrained misery overtook his face.

  Black walked over to put her hand on his shoulder, while her other hand rested on her holster. Everyone else looked as sad as he did, despite their alert posture. Lia stood there quietly for a moment then sat back down waiting for someone to break the silence. Steele looked to Lia, then to the group. “We’ve all lost people, such is the sad cliché of our current reality, but we gotta buck up as we always do. Now the matter remains, what makes you different, really?” Steele demanded, calmer than Black, but no less alert.

  Lia shrugged resigned. “Maybe nothing... I was attacked by one of the bigger ones early on... an alpha as I call them. Has anyone else ever been joined to one?”

  “What,” Grant exclaimed with quiet disgust, his patience waning, “the hell do you mean joined?” he demanded angrily.

  Lia looked at her hands, considering her answer. “The short version?” she asked. No one argued so she continued, “The only reason I found this kynari in the Miraicorp building was because I’d been forced to run from an alpha that had basically been toying with me up until then or odds are I never would’ve got that far. Anyway, he had me trapped, beaten, pretty much defeated. Somehow I managed to beat him.” She looked to her doubtful audience, only John seemed to listen without clear judgement. She continued, “Perhaps the only different part is what came afterwards... I’d managed to behead him with this,” she gestured to the kynari, “then booted his head away... but even that wasn’t enough. His tendrils ripped from his neck looking for the head, but found me instead.” Everyone was listening carefully now, Lia gestured to her body slowly, shaking slightly with the memory before she spoke, “They tore him apart as they did me... ripped through me, and merged us together.” Everyone stared shocked. “Everything... Every part of me was basically destroyed then rebuilt, if that term even fits anymore.” She paused a moment. “Just before I blacked out his armour was everywhere. That’s all I remember until I woke up...”

  “Then what?” John asked.

  Lia looked to him. “I soon found myself surrounded by lesser shifted that had been drawn by his roars... I fought hard, but lost...” The doubtful concern seemed to return to her audience. “Then I met him in my mind, he took over long enough to kill them all, then I was fine...”

  Black looked at her incredulously. “So, you’ve gone from trying to tell us you should be allowed to live because you’re in control to now basically saying you’re basically an immortal hybrid with an alpha in your head for a friend? Not only that, but you gave it a gender. What. The. Fuck.”

  Lia shrugged. “Take it or leave it.”

  Ever the voice of reason, Steele interjected calmly, “Say we accept all of this thus far, how does your relationship work with ... him?”

  Lia turned to her. “He basically trained me to survive... he somehow knows everything... if I fall he takes over so we survive. Let’s just say we’re not friends, but being trapped in my body, he hasn’t had much choice.”

  Black looked frustrated. “Even among our current situation’s insanity, this is insane.”

  “Noted, stay focused,” Steele said, eyeing Black with calm authority. “How do you communicate with him?” she asked Lia.

  “We interact within my dreams for the most part, whenever we aren’t just conversing.”

  Black laughed. “So, what you just talk to your pet demon in your head?”

  Lia gave her a dirty look then smiled. “No, for the most part I talk to a floating version of his face.”

  Steele seemed frustrated by their interaction. “How does it work when he takes over? I’m sure you can imagine why I’m concerned.”

  Lia nodded. “If it isn’t already, his armour comes out, then my face is covered in a version of his like a mask, hence my mask analogy. From there, I’m just watching myself in third person as he does all the work.”

  “So you control the armour, but what about the mask?” Steele asked.

  “It only forms when the Leader is in control, or if he joins with me.”

  “If he joins with you?” Steele asked.

  “Yes, we have developed a form of mutual relationship. He was the one who taught me how to use the kynari, my power, even his. He also helped me defeat Barton. So you don’t have to worry; he won’t harm you...”

  “Wait, Barton ...?” Private Grant asked, surprised.

  Steele finished the thought, “Sirionous Barton, the head scientist in charge of evolutionary study and biological modification at MiraiCorp?”

  Lia nodded. “The one I was referencing when I said it was almost like he wanted me there. He created the virus, the L strain, also the kynari I hold, or so he says,” Lia finished.

  “Barton created the shifted?!” Steele asked surprised.

  “Yes, after the Leader defeated a horde of shifted, I followed a letterhead’s return address to the main building. Upon exploration, I found sc
ientific logs which revealed to me that the original shifted were scientists who had agreed to be his guinea pigs. When I found him, he revealed that his version of the L strain was superior to the version that created the alpha, called Leader, within me. After some intense fighting through his pet shifted, and finally Barton, I set off a self-destruct sequence which overloaded the main MiraiCorp complex’s reactors and blew it to hell.” A second of stunned silence followed her summary.

  “Jesus. All we were told was to find and extract him if possible because one of the disgruntled scientists took an early L strain version for himself, making him patient zero. While Barton provided evidence against him and claimed to have a cure. Of course, the employee had since mutated, so he couldn’t refute the claim, and things were already crazy by the time we were shipped out. So basically, Barton is dead then?” Steele asked, her expression showing frustrated confusion briefly.

  “A black pool was all that remained of him when the place went up. I doubt he survived a nuclear explosion in that condition,” Lia said with certainty.

  John looked at her with a similar doubtful look to Black’s. “Now you’ve lost me too... Not only do you have all this power, but you somehow got into MiraiCorp, confronted Barton – who not only survived but caused everything, and is supposedly stronger than you – then you somehow beat him with your imaginary friend’s help. And after all that unlikely, impossible mess, you blew up the place?”

  Lia smiled somewhat nervously. “You felt the explosion, didn’t you?” she asked rhetorically.

  John shrugged. “No, I didn’t, sorry.”

  Lia looked worried for a moment. “That’s fine. I figured being nuclear you might have noticed effects of it, but it’s better you didn’t. Anyway, I’m positive there’s nothing left of Barton or his failed creations.”

  Chapter 10 – Resurrection

  Crows still circled the skies warily above the site where the MiraiCorp building once stood. A massive pit ripped out of the ground was all that remained. Countless days passed, yet still it smoked. Nature hadn’t managed to begin recovering from the momentous destruction, the scorched earth incapable of supporting grass. The husks of small trees far from the site collapsed as their dried trunks gave way. Stumps that still stood were all that remained to show nature once existed there. The inside of the pit had been blasted to crystal-like glass. It seemed to originate from the bottom before extending upward in waves like the fire that created it.