Gyaros Book One: The Mice Eat Iron (YA 17+ Sci Fi Adventure)

by Rohan Healy

  “Well don't just sit there! Help me bag 'em up!” Miles took a moment to breathe and attempted to calm himself before opening the truck door and stepping outside, his mind completely blank. He fought the urge to throw up as he saw the lifeless body of the woman on the ground, blood was quickly pooling around her and she had a large hole through the centre of her chest.

  “You take care o' her, I'll get the other one!” shouted Jasper as he ran back to the shack, holstering his weapon. Miles took a couple of deep breaths and swallowed hard, he made his way around the truck, carefully trying not to step in the blood that covered the red desert sand and took one of the large burlap sacks from the back of the pickup. Miles closed his eyes and began to contemplate exactly how to go about this. ‘Oh God, I can’t do this…’ After several seconds of stalling, Miles knelt down beside the body, held his breath, scrunched up his face and lifted the girl's feet into the sack. He exhaled and took another deep breath before beginning to slide the large bag up the rest of her lifeless body. As he pulled the sack over the dead woman’s wound, he could no longer restrain his urge to be sick and stopped for a moment to rush behind the truck and throw up. ‘Pull it together for fuck’s sake Miles!’ He finished being sick and, after regaining his composure, tied the sack closed with some rope and attempted to lift the body onto the truck. His arms were weak and he could barely even stand, he closed his eyes again, thought to himself, 'just fucking do it, Miles!' and lifted the bag with all his strength. The pickup shook from the impact as Miles threw the girl onto the bed of the truck before collapsing on the blood soaked ground of the wasteland. He looked up to the clear blue sky as he laid there exhausted, breathing heavily with a still rapidly beating heart. There was his true home, floating five hundred and fifty thousand kilometres away. The beautiful blue planet of Carthage, that was where he belonged, typing at a desk for eight hours a day where his biggest fear was that the coffee machine might break down again, or one of Tyler’s pranks. Ah Tyler, how silly and trivial a concern he now seemed compared to the challenges of Gyaros. It was so simple back then, you just follow the rules, go to work, pay your taxes and the Areopagus takes care of the rest, the path is clearly laid out for you since the time you're born till the day you die and all you have to do is walk that line. But Miles' path was different, it hadn't lead him to the big retirement pension or the house by a lake he'd always dreamed of. It lead him to the middle of a scolding lunar desert, drenched with the blood of an innocent woman who he had just shoved into a bag and slammed onto the back of a pickup truck. A woman, a human being, who would be used to feed the citizens of The Dustbowl, to feed Miles himself! Miles gagged at the thought but quickly recovered as Jasper returned, dragging the other body by the legs, a man this time, slightly overweight with a thick trail of blood following behind him as he was pulled through the dust. As they came closer Miles could see that much of the man's face was missing and blood was pouring from the area around his exposed brain.

  “Hey Miles, gimme' a hand with this fat son of a bitch!” shouted Jasper. Miles forced himself to his feet and reluctantly assisted Jasper with the second corpse. After both bodies were bagged and loaded onto the pickup, Jasper threw a large green tarp over the two bloody sacks and returned casually to the driver's seat. The engine started up with a loud rattling sound and the wheels began to roll, leaving behind the gruesome murder scene. Miles' heart was still racing as he and Jasper drove back down the rough dirt road to The Dustbowl. His extremities were numb, it felt as though he were somehow floating just outside his body, witnessing everything from a third person perspective. The blood on Miles' window had turned a brownish-red and had hardened slightly, he tried not to look at it, staring straight ahead into the distance.

  “Ya have fun?” Jasper finally said after several minutes of silence, apparently enjoying the distraction from the events of yesterday. Miles thought about the question, 'fun? How on Carthage could anyone have fun doing this?! How could anyone have fun doing anything on Gyaros?' Unable to speak, Miles just closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “Well don't you worry,” said Jasper with a disturbing grin, “you'll get used to it soon enough.” Jasper turned his head to Miles, “you'll always remember yer first time,” he added with a chuckle. Miles couldn't argue with that, no matter how hard he tried, he knew he would never be able to forget the past few hours.

  After a long drive back to The Dustbowl, Miles and Jasper arrived at the diner a few minutes before opening time. Jasper parked the truck behind the building and they quickly and stealthily dragged the bodies inside through a back entrance where Gideon was waiting for them.

  “Ya did good, boys!” said Gideon with a large grin stretching across his face and he slapped them heartily on the back in a congratulatory gesture. He then grabbed hold of the two heavy sacks and dragged them both into the kitchen before returning to Miles with a small paper bag.

  “Just as I promised, Miles,” Gideon handed Miles a bag which was heavier than he expected and contained a large amount of metal coins.

  “That's a thousand right there,” Gideon added as Miles looked down at the coins inside the bag, there were too many to easily count, and he was still in a state of shock from the morning’s events so he decided to take Gideon's word for it.

  “Now you two best clean up and get ready for work, we open in a couple minutes.” Miles returned to his usual position in the scullery and used the sink in an attempt to clean the innocent woman’s blood off his hands and face, though quite a lot still remained on his once white shirt. Miles felt greatly relieved to be back scrubbing dishes, the clanking of cutlery helped to drown out the memory of the woman’s blood curdling screams. It was actually quite satisfying for Miles to have been paid such a large amount. It was going to take money to get out of The Dustbowl and although he knew that there would be more raids in the future, he tried not to think about them until he had to. Every bit of cash brought Miles one step closer to a vehicle of his own, and one step closer to New Fortune. ‘There was nothing I could do for those people,’ he rationalised. ‘I just need to save up, don’t make any trouble, earn my money and get the hell out of here when I can afford to.’

  After a relatively calm week of working in the diner, the meat supply was once again running low, Gideon let Miles and Jasper know that they needed to “re-stock” and that he had already chosen a location for the next raid. Apparently, there was a large house just a few kilometres east of The Dustbowl that was once owned by a wealthy family in the glory days of the red moon under Talos rule, and Gideon had heard of a group of new arrivals to Gyaros heading in that direction just a few days ago. Putting two and two together, Gideon concluded that it was likely that the group had taken shelter in the old house, it was at least worth checking out as newcomers are often the easiest targets. The night before the second raid Miles was even more terrified than the first time, having full knowledge now of what actually happens on these excursions. He managed to get a couple of hours sleep but was haunted by nightmares featuring everything from Landi’s shark attack to giant rats, his family and of course the terrifying image of that innocent young woman’s fear filled eyes. Because of this he woke up in a cold sweat several times during the night.

  As morning approached, Gideon woke Miles and Jasper and it wasn't long before they were back in the dirty, rusted pickup truck heading east to the old family mansion. The drive wasn't as long this time, which meant that Miles had much less time to prepare himself for the task ahead. Not long after leaving the gates of The Dustbowl and taking a left, the silhouette of a large house came into view in the distance as the artificial Gyaros sky began to brighten.

  “Shiiit, that place looks huge!” said Jasper, breaking a long silence, “ya think those folks are in there?” he added as he turned his head to face Miles.

  “I don't know,” Miles replied, trying to hide his fear, “but it looks like a good place to take cover if you've just landed.”

  “Right, supposin' they mad
e it all the way there, I don't see why they wouldn't stay, 'least for a while.” said Jasper, returning his eyes to the road.

  “It’s such a big place, surely people already live there though, right?” asked Miles.

  “Naw man, everyone says it’s cursed, or haunted or somethin’. No one seems to remember what happened at the old place but no one dares live there ‘cause of the rumours. Hell I’m pretty tough but I wouldn’t spend a night in that place if you paid me a million Talons! I don’t know a whole lot but I’m smart enough to listen when warned.”

  ‘A curse? That’s ridiculous.’ Miles didn’t believe in that sort of thing but it certainly didn’t help to calm his nerves.

  Miles breathed slowly and tried to relax himself as the truck drew closer to the mansion which he could now see stood on a high, rocky hill not far from the edge of a giant cliff. Jasper slowed down as they reached the base of the hill and turned left into the remnants of a long driveway which lead all the way up to the old house. They drove for another two minutes before finally bringing the vehicle to a stop at the top of the hill.

  Despite its age, the house actually looked half liveable from the outside with only a few broken windows and rotted wooden beams. This was the first time that Miles had seen a structure from the old days of Gyaros, long before it became a place of punishment and suffering for unwanted individuals. After admiring the giant mansion for several seconds, Jasper opened his door and got out of the truck.

  “Same as last time, Miles,” he said quietly, “just keep an eye out, I'll go find these fuckers.” With that, Jasper began making his way toward the house with his right hand on his holstered revolver, leaving Miles once again trembling in the passenger seat of the pickup truck. Jasper carefully looked through the front windows before drawing his weapon and opening the large wooden door which was accompanied by a loud creaking sound. He disappeared into the creepy mansion. ‘Look at the size of that thing!’ The house looked utterly out of place, an elegant super structure in the middle of a wasteland. The wind picked up, blowing sand about and making the window shutters slam, the rusted old gates creaked with age. Something caught Miles’ attention, he was sure he spotted movement in an upstairs window from out of the corner of his eye, ‘what the hell was that?’

  Minutes began to pass and Miles still hadn't seen any sign of Jasper, he began to worry but reassured himself, 'he hasn't been gone that long and it's a big house, you can't expect to search even half of the rooms in a few minutes.' But with time continuing to tick by without so much as a gunshot, Miles was beginning to think that something was wrong. After trying to think of any decent excuse not to enter the mansion, Miles eventually decided that he needed to check on Jasper. Trying not to think about the dangers of what he was about to do, Miles picked up the spare pistol from under his seat and rushed towards the front door of the massive abode. He stood at the door motionless for almost a minute before finally working up the courage to enter.

  The wooden floorboards creaked loudly as Miles reluctantly stepped inside the old house. He now stood in the main hall of the mansion, the room was large with a staircase in the centre, the stairs then branched off to the left and right leading up to the first floor. Miles could make out three doors on the first floor, a large double door directly in front of him and two single doors to his left and right. On either side of Miles, on the ground floor, were two open doorways. The one to his right lead into a living room, the other to his left leading into a dining area. A dusty glass chandelier hung awkwardly from the ceiling, looking as if it could fall at any moment, and the regal red rug that covered the floor and climbed the stairs looked like it had seen better days. The mansion seemed far less impressive from the inside as Miles carefully looked around. Miles strained his ears for any sign of life but could hear only the wind outside whipping around the house.

  “Jasper?” Miles called out loudly, part of him knew it was a bad idea but he didn't know what else to do at this point. After waiting several seconds with no reply, Miles slowly made his way into the living area through the doorway to his right. An expensive looking sofa sat in front of a well-crafted wooden coffee table along with two matching luxurious armchairs – both with the word Wilhelm embroidered into the headrest - and all along the walls several shelves held a variety of antiques, old books and knick-knacks. Miles trembled as he made his way through the room, he noticed that everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, everything except for a faded yellow sports jacket that was hung over the back of the furthest armchair. ‘Hello, that jacket doesn’t look like it’s been here long at all.’ Miles quickly approached the jacket to get a closer look, it definitely didn't belong to Jasper which most likely meant that the group Gideon had sent them to find had reached the house. This made Miles even more uneasy, they were not alone.

  “Jasper?!” he called out again. This time, Miles heard a loud thumping noise from the room directly above him as a shower of dust fell from the ceiling. Miles jumped in fright and began to panic as he could hear someone or something moving around upstairs. ‘Holy fuck! What the hell is that?’ Maybe it was Jasper, maybe it was one of the others from the group or maybe it was some mutated creature from the desert that had found its way inside. Whatever it was, Miles couldn't just stand around, he wanted to run back to the truck and get the hell out of there but he couldn't just leave Jasper behind, nor did he know how to properly operate the vehicle. Miles rushed through a doorway separating the living room from a large kitchen. He could still hear sounds of movement from the first floor as he frantically pondered his next move. The kitchen seemed to connect to the dining room on the other side of the mansion. Miles made his way there, carefully avoiding pots and pans as he walked. As he arrived at a long rectangular dining table, Miles heard a voice whisper from above him.

  “Hey, Miles.” He quickly turned and looked up at the first floor balcony which stretched across the length of the room and overlooked the dining area, to see Jasper standing there with an intense and fearful look on his face, he was sweating and his eyes bulged from their sockets. ‘What the hell happened to him?!’ Before Miles could speak, Jasper held the barrel of his revolver over his lips, telling Miles to stay silent. He then signalled for Miles to join him on the first floor before disappearing into one of the rooms. Miles was relieved that Jasper was alright but the look on his face suggested that something was definitely very wrong. In any case, Miles needed to get to the first floor and from what he had seen, the only way up was the large staircase in the centre of the mansion. He quickly made his way through the open doorway leading back to where he started and slowly began to walk up the wooden stairs. The old wood creaked with each step as Miles ascended to the first floor of the mansion with both hands keeping a firm hold on his pistol. Upon reaching the top of the central flight of stairs, Miles proceeded up the stairs to his left, arriving at the first floor of the main hall. There was a door on each side of the room, much like on the ground floor, along with a large double door in the centre. Miles made his way carefully to the door on the left as it appeared to lead to where he had seen Jasper earlier. As his hand reached for the round metal door knob, Miles heard a strange sound coming from behind him. It sounded like the howl of a dying animal and caused Miles to jump in fright and turn around. 'What the fuck is that?!' Miles thought as he began to panic. The howling was soon accompanied by a loud banging as the door on the opposite side of the room began to shake, he quickly turned his attention back to the door knob and threw open the door revealing a narrow hallway with three identical wooden doors on the right side, the left side overlooked the dining room. Miles began to sprint down the corridor as he heard the sound of wood cracking behind him along with the same terrifying cry of whatever animal occupied the giant house and then finally, the loud thump of a heavy door falling to the ground. Whatever was in this mansion, it was far stronger than any human, and it was after Miles! He took a right turn and continued to run down the long corridors, not daring to look back as the h
owling creature pursued him with lightning speed, its loud footsteps getting ever closer, it’s demented howling ever louder. ‘OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT!’ Suddenly, one of the doors lining the long hallway opened. Miles felt an arm around his neck and everything went dark as he was forcefully pulled into a pitch black room. He fought frantically to free himself until a familiar voice spoke quietly.

  “Miles! Calm the fuck down!” Miles stopped struggling as he realized it was Jasper who had pulled him to safety. Miles’ eyes began to adjust to the darkness and he could now see that they were in a large bedroom with an elegant looking double bed. In the corner of the room sat a desk with an old type writer accompanied by two ink ribbons and a small lamp. Hanging from the roof was another broken chandelier which looked to be in slightly better condition than the one in the main hall. After catching his breath and trying his best to calm himself, Miles whispered, “what was that thing?”

  “Fuck if I know!” Jasper replied in a low, raspy voice, “but there's more than one of 'em and they sure as hell ain't friendly.”

  “Did you get a good look at one of them?” Miles asked, trying not to panic.

  “Yeah, looked like a fuckin' zombie or somethin'. And it had all this green shit growin' out of it.”

  Jasper paused, pointed at the keyhole of the door and added, “take a look for yerself! I think it's still out there.” Miles reluctantly approached the door and bent down to look through the keyhole. At first he saw nothing but he could hear the creature moving about wildly. After a few seconds, Miles saw the thing rush by. It looked like a human with strange, plant like growths sprouting from all over its body. It moved too fast for Miles to get a proper look at it but from what he saw, it did indeed look like something from a zombie movie. But Miles knew that zombies didn't exist, or at least not on Carthage. But who can say what does or doesn't exist on Gyaros? Miles was only sure of one thing, there was some kind of creature out there that wanted to kill him and Jasper, and it was not human, not anymore at least.