by Jake Bible
“No,” Blaze says before Jersey can reply. “I’ve felt trapped. Imprisoned.”
“Precisely,” Tanya smiles. “That’s my boy. This has all been a grand experiment carried out by a madman. A madman that has finally achieved immortality and has zero desire to share it.”
“The SRS wasn’t made to keep us safe,” Jersey says, looking from Blaze to Tanya and back. “It was designed to keep us contained. It’s a giant petri dish. Is that it?”
“That is it,” Tanya nods. “Only a few of us have ever known the truth. But one by one, we have died off, leaving me as the last. I can remember when Caldicott first put his plan in motion.”
“Impossible,” Bryan says. “You are not that old.”
“I would think twice before using the word impossible, Captain,” Tanya laughs. “You have zero concept of the word’s meaning. Trust me.”
“So what now?” Ton asks. “I can care less about the whys, I just need to know the hows. Specifically, how do we stop this Other?”
“We go to the Control dome,” Tanya says. “The Other is housed there, deep, deep below the surface. The scientists that have been running the place for me have had no idea. I may be called Control, which is true on many levels, from a certain stand point. But, unfortunately, it appears I have not beenin control. I will now rectify that mistake. We must cross the Sicklands and take back that facility.”
“Good,” Ton says. “That is something I understand how to do. Let’s bring up a map and start plotting.”
Bryan waves his hand and a topographical view of the land between Caldicott City and the Control dome comes up. Everyone stares, too stunned to even gasp.
“What is that?” someone asks.
“It is what I was afraid of,” Tanya sighs. “The Clean Guard. Just like the rest of the personnel within the Control dome, they have been co-opted by the Other. I knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with the cooties and affected civilians as his only fighting force.”
“There are thousands of them,” Ton says as he looks at the map and the impossible number of red dots that represent the Clean Guard’s forces. “We have maybe a couple hundred of us.”
“Then we’ll need to fight smart,” Red says. “Let them make the mistake of thinking their numbers are all they need.”
“Any ideas?” Bryan asks.
“Yeah,” Red nods. “A couple. But I’ll need to make a call first.”
“A call?” Bryan asks. “Who the hell to?”
“Anyone still alive out there,” Red says. “Any GenWrecks that haven’t been taken out.”
Part Three
Day
They reach for me, they call for me, and I am helpless. Helpless like I am a child myself, left to the mercy of my surroundings.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper as chunks and pieces of them begin to fall away.
They keep calling for me until their throats can no longer make any sounds beyond a wretched, horrible gurgling noise.
I turn and flee, feeling the shame of my cowardice.
39
The crackle of static and a faint voice are what bring Jude out of his tormented sleep. He sits upright and shakes himself fully awake then scrambles over to the radio in the corner of the small room.
“Hello?” he calls as he grabs the handset and presses the button. “Hello? Who is this? Hello?”
“Keep it down, kid,” Milo growls from the opposite corner. He looks out at Jude from a tangle of blankets, his teeth chattering from the cold that penetrates the room like a frigid knife. “That fucking sick mutt is still out there somewhere. Not to mention whatever else may be living in this GenWreck prison.”
“I keep telling you there aren’t any vermin here,” Jude says. “So calm the hell down.” He presses the handset button again. “Hello? Hello, can you hear me?”
“Jude?” the radio crackles. “Jude? Is that you?”
“Dad!” Jude shouts, which elicits more growls from Milo. Jude waves him off. “Dad! Where are you?”
“GenSOF Tower in Caldicott City,” Red replies, his voice wavering in and out from the bad signal.
“GenSOF Tower? Why are—?” Jude asks, but is immediately interrupted.
“No time to explain,” Red says. “A very long and confusing story. I just need to know that you’re alright.”
“I am,” Jude says. “We’ve been hiding in the prison for a while now, but the sick mutt can’t get in.”
“Sick mutt?” Red asks. “One of the Sicklands big hounds?”
“Yeah, and it’s a big one,” Jude says. “The thing has us trapped here. Milo doesn’t think it’s going to go away. I don’t either.”
“Good, you’re still with the GenSOF operators,” Red says. “How are they doing?”
“We lost Hoagie,” Jude says. He glances over at Milo who is watching him intently. “The guy helped us escape and sacrificed himself. We still have all the dogs though.”
Jude glances at the piles of fur that are busy snoring on the floor. None of them have even twitched an ear in his direction, keeping to their conditioning of conserving energy unless real danger appears. A voice filled with static from an ancient analog radio does not constitute real danger.
“But one Sicklands bug hound is keeping you trapped?” Red asks.
“You’ll have to see it,” Jude says. “There’s something wrong with the thing. It won’t die. Keeps healing. It doesn’t have any fur anymore and looks like dried pus. It’s hard to describe.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you need to,” Red replies. “I have a very good idea of what you are talking about.”
There are some voices in the background, but Jude can’t make out any of the words.
“Listen, Jude, I have managed to reach four of our GenWreck bases,” Red says. “The rest aren’t answering. One of the squads will be coming right by where you are. Do you think you can get out to meet them?”
“I don’t know,” Jude says.
“We sure as hell are going to try,” Milo says, throwing his blankets off. He gets up and staggers over to the radio. “Give me that.”
Jude hands Milo the handset and steps back.
“This is Milo,” Milo states. “I’ll get your son outside. You can count on me. I’d be dead without his help, so I owe him my life.”
“Thank you,” Red says. “The squad should be rumbling by in about two hours. Can you get clear of that sick mutt by then?”
“Don’t have much of a choice,” Milo says. “Like I said, I’ll get him up there and on that transport. Where will we be headed? Back to Caldicott City?”
“Caldicott City is gone,” Red says. “A lot has happened since we split up.”
“Gone? What the hell do you mean it’s gone?” Milo asks. “Gone how?”
“Leveled by cooties and affected civvies,” Red says. “Listen, I can’t explain. We are loading up right now and heading to the Control dome. The squad picking you up will bring both of you to us. They’ll have weapons on hand if you need them.”
“We do,” Milo says. “We’re a little short at the moment. The kid wasn’t joking about this sick mutt that has been stalking us. We’ve thrown everything we had at him and he still won’t quit.”
“Okay, I understand,” Red says. The voices in the background get louder. “I have to go. You two be careful.”
“Will do,” Milo says. “See ya on the battlefield.”
“Yeah,” Red replies, his voice weary. “See ya there.”
The radio squawks then goes silent. Milo looks at Jude and Jude looks at Milo. Then they both look at the door to the room they have been trapped in for days.
“You really think we can get by that thing?” Jude asks. “Nothing we’ve done has worked yet.”
“Nothing we’ve done has been for a reason other than escaping it,” Milo says. “Now we have a reason. To get you back to your dad. We’ll get by it.”
Milo walks to the door and places his ear against it. He listens for a minute and shakes his head.
“I don’t know if it’s still out there,” Milo says. “Maybe it went outside to take a shit.”
“It’s still out there,” Jude says.
“How do you know?”
“Because I just do,” Jude responds. “I have a feeling.”
“Does your feeling know if it’s taking a nap and we can just tiptoe past it?” Milo asks. Jude gives him a surly look. “Just asking, kid.” He takes a deep breath and puts his hand on the door handle. “Only one way to find out.”
Milo pulls on the handle and cracks the door slightly. Immediately all of the bug hounds in the room come to attention and are up on their feet snarling, their hackles raised. A loud, gurgling snarl responds in kind from outside the room and Milo quickly slams the door shut.
“That answers that,” Milo says. He glances at a club fastened out of a hunk of pipe and a large rock strapped to the top that rests by his pile of blankets. “Best get our game faces on, kid. We don’t have much time.”
Jude nods and fetches his own weapon, a steel rod with a hunk of sharpened metal tied to the end. He works his way through the alert and on edge bug hounds waiting by the door as Milo goes and grabs his weapon.
“What’s the strategy?” Jude asks.
“We yank open that door and run like hell while the dogs take that fucker on,” Milo says. “Only thing I can think of.”
Jude looks at the bug hounds and shakes his head. “It’ll kill some of them. Maybe all of them. We’ve made it this far because of the dogs. We can’t just sacrifice them.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you this since we first started running, kid,” Milo says. “These dogs are designed to be sacrificed. It’ll break my fucking heart, but a bug hound’s job is to protect its operator. Not the other way around. Once we open that door then they have to get to work.”
“I don’t want to lose Ajax,” Jude says, tears welling in his eyes. “And my dad put Zeus in my care.”
“Your dad put you in Zeus’s care,” Milo says. “Your dad knows the drill. He expects these dogs to lay down their lives to get you up to the surface and on that transport. You need to respect that.”
Jude shakes his head and sniffs. He takes a last look at his bug hound then at the closed door. The sick mutt outside is throwing itself against the door, its snarls turning into howls of rage.
“Tick tock, kid,” Milo says. “We don’t have time to be sentimental.”
“Fuck you,” Jude snaps. “You’ve lived in the city and had a life. The only life I’ve known is being a kid in the Sicklands with a bunch of adults that talk about how they hate the Clean Nation and Control. Ajax is my only friend.”
“I’m your friend, kid,” Milo says. “And I always will be. I promise.”
“Not the same,” Jude says.
Milo looks at Tequila. “I know. But we are where we are.”
“Fuck!” Jude yells then grips his spear. “Okay. Screw it. Let’s go.”
“That’s the spirit,” Milo says. He grips his club in one hand and grabs the door handle in the other. “One. Two. Three!”
Milo yanks open the door and swings down with the club. The alpha sick mutt jumps back, its jaws snapping at the club before it twists and leaps away, trying to come at Jude and Milo from the side as they sprint from the room.
The passageway outside is dark, but not pitch black. The alpha tracks Jude and times his attack, lunging at the boy with almost perfect precision. The only thing that keeps him from grabbing Jude by the leg is a mass of fur that nails him in the side, sending him rolling across the passageway and into the far wall.
“Go!” Milo shouts as he sees Snorts face off against the alpha. He gives Jude a little shove. “Go, kid! Move!”
There’s a loud howl and yelp as the alpha sinks his fangs into Snort’s neck and tosses the smaller dog aside. A second bug hound, Tequila, takes Snorts place and puts itself between the alpha and the fleeing humans.
The alpha feints to the left then dodges to the right, leaping against the wall and ricocheting off so he clears Tequila in one jump. The GenSOF bug hound spins about and snaps at the alpha, its jaws clamping down on the sick mutt’s tail. The alpha flops to the ground then turns quickly and grabs onto Tequila’s snout, burying its rotted teeth into the bug hound’s muzzle.
Tequila yelps then begins to wail as the alpha bites down with all of his strength, crushing the bug hound’s jaw. Another blur of black fur rams into the alpha as Zeus gets in the fight. He is followed quickly by Ajax, Munch, and Gorge. The passageway is filled with a rolling, snarling, tumbling tangle of fur and blood.
Milo sees Jude hesitate as they reach the main stairs out of the subterranean prison. He grabs the kid by the shoulder, forcing him to climb to the surface.
“Don’t stop,” he hisses at the boy. “Don’t look back.”
Several yelps, followed by a bark that’s cut off midway through, almost make Milo turn, but he keeps his discipline and focuses on Jude. He refuses to let the boy glance at the dog fight and clamps his hand down harder each time Jude tries.
“We’re almost out,” Milo says. “We just get to the top and outside then barricade the door. That piece of shit will be locked in here until it starves to death.”
“So will our dogs!” Jude yells. “We can’t do that!”
“No choice!” Milo yells back. “No fucking choice, kid! Your dad gave you an order and that was to get up top and on the GenWreck transport! When your squad leader gives you an order then you follow through!”
More yelps, more snarls, more barks cut off midway.
Milo shoves Jude hard as they reach the top of the stairs. He keeps shoving as they cross a narrow rock bridge, the only way in or out of the prison. They make it to the other side and Milo scoops up Jude in one arm, wincing as he feels his wound stretch, and carries the boy through the massive and open sliding doors that mark the entrance to the prison. He keeps carrying Jude until they are standing in the grey light outside the GenWreck prison, the vast expanse of the barren Sicklands all about them.
He lets the boy drop and pulls a pair of binoculars from his belt, one of the few pieces of equipment of use he was able to find in the long defunct prison. Milo scans the horizon, sweeping back and forth until he spots what he thinks is a far off transport kicking up dust and heading their way.
“Here they come,” Milo says. “Get up and help me lock down this entrance. I can’t close these doors on my own.”
Jude glares at Milo, but gets to his feet and grabs the handle to one of the massive doors. Milo grabs the handle on the other door and pulls it closed while Jude pulls his closed. They both stand there hoping it will hold and slow the sick mutt down. But they’ve seen the thing figure its way out of harder situations.
“Let me have your spear,” Milo says. “Hurry!”
“Stop yelling at me!” Jude shouts as he rushes over and picks up his spear.
He hurries to Milo and hands the operator the weapon. Milo starts to work it between the door handles. Before he can get it wedged in there, the doors shudder from a heavy impact and Milo is knocked back.
“Shit,” he swears as he lunges at the door.
But he’s too late. The alpha wedges its head into the small gap it created and starts to push. Milo kicks at the sick mutt’s bloody snout, but it seems to have almost no effect.
“Go!” Milo yells, holding onto one of the handles with all his strength. “Run towards the transport! I’ll keep the thing right—”
He doesn’t finish as the alpha bursts from between the doors, sending Milo flying and tumbling to the ground. The GenSOF operator tries to scramble back onto his feet, but he never gets the chance as close to two hundred pounds of diseased dog slams on top of him.
The Sicklands fills with the sounds of Milo’s screams. Then the sound of those screams ending abruptly.
Jude runs.
He knows he can’t beat the sick mutt, he knows that the beast will catch him, but there is no way he’ll stand st
ill and let it happen.
His feet nearly slip out from under him as he hits a patch of loose gravel, but he keeps his balance and stays on course, aimed right for the spot Milo said the transport was coming from. He pumps his legs and arms, pulling up every last bit of strength he has. His lungs burn, his muscles burn, and his eyes burn as held back tears spill out onto his cheeks.
He starts to see a small dot ahead of him and he prays that it’s the transport and not some random boulder. As he gets closer, the spot gets closer, looking larger and larger with every step, giving him hope that maybe he’ll make it.
Then that hope is lost as he’s hit square in the back. He falls forward and tries to roll, but only ends up upside down, his head and neck scraping across rocks as he slides to a stop. His legs flip over him and he feels something tear as his left leg slams into the ground.
Standing over him, its muzzle dripping with blood and foamy drool, the alpha bares its fangs and then comes in for the kill. Jude rolls a couple inches and manages to keep the thing from getting to his soft neck. Instead, the alpha clamps down onto Jude’s right shoulder. Muscle is shredded and bones grind together as thousands of pounds of force per square inch decimates the joint.
Jude screams at the top of his lungs and reaches for the alpha with his left hand, jamming his thumb into the beast’s eye. The sick mutt yowls and lets go of Jude’s shoulder, but not before giving it a hard shake. Jude screams again, all strength fleeing his body as panic sets in.
The alpha shakes its head over and over, sending blood and fluid flying from its punctured eyeball. It rubs its face in the dirt, trying to coat the wound, but it only enrages it even more. After a minute, it turns its attention back onto Jude.
Slowly, with deliberate menace, the alpha takes ominous step after ominous step until once again it looms over the boy. Jude looks at the grotesque creature and shuts his eyes tight, ready for the killing strike.
