Sisters of Ruin

by Darren Lewis

  “I think she's in shock. I'm trying to keep her warm but you're right we do need food and water, especially Brooke.”

  Mary leaned forward from her seat next to Gabby.

  “Do we turn the TV back on?” Her voice unnaturally timid, as if asking the question too loudly would offend some deity and make everything they witnessed true. Brooke's eyes fired into life and bore into Mary.

  “Why would you want to do that?” She shrieked, her eyes flashed with such intensity at Mary that Gabby was sure Mary experienced a flash of pain. Mr Harris clamped an arm about Brooke's shoulders and he began whispering into her ear. Brooke shook her head violently, sending her curly blond hair back and forth across her tortured face. “No! No! I have to get home! Get off me!”

  Mr Harris turned a desperate face to the two girls.

  “See if you can find anyone out there, wherever we are, we need some help!” Both Mary and Gabby stood in unison, their own turbulent emotions forgotten as they made to leave the room. “A doctor would be good!” Mr Harris said in a strained tone as they left the room and closed the door.

  * * *

  “You know for an underground, secret lair, this place is quite well decorated.” Gabby observed sarcastically, running a finger along the white, headache inducing, paint on the walls. As the floor and ceiling within the corridor they wandered along were also the same bright white Gabby couldn't quite dispel the notion she wasn't walking along a flat surface but somehow walking down a never ending white wall. The only interruptions in the white monotony were fluorescent strips in the ceiling, bright white again, and lines painted into the floor, six in total. Blue, orange, black, purple, green and, much to Gabby's chagrin, more white but at least surrounded by a black border. Mary had identified them as 'hallway markers.' A visit to a relative in hospital reminding her they were meant as a guide around the building. Gabby added in an exasperated tone that was fine as long as you knew what your destination was and which colour to follow. The coloured lines ran parallel to one another so far, but as the two girls had yet to reach a junction they couldn't fathom if they were going to or from any aid.

  “Do you think Brooke will be okay?” Mary asked, linking her arm through her friend's for comfort as they wandered the hallway.

  “No.” Gabby shrugged. “But then, are you okay?” Gabby cast a sidelong glance at Mary and saw her friend purse her lips together until they matched the colour of the walls. “It's fine not to be you know.” Gabby added in a conspiratorial whisper. “I mean take me for example. My folks, may they rot in hell, shit all over me and I still have 'issues' years later and now all this.” Gabby waved her free arm about the hallway. “I'm buggered, is what I'm trying to say. Mental. Crazy. Ga ga.” Mary sniffed a laugh and fumbled in her coat pocket for a tissue to wipe her eyes.

  “I can't stop thinking of Mum and Dad. If they're alive…” Mary's voice broke slightly but she cleared her throat forcefully and with purpose. “And Ben and Alex of course. They must be so worried about me.” Gabby nodded, sympathising in one respect and marvelling at the idea of caring parents in another. “But however weird this all is I'm sure it's being dealt with and we won't have to stay long.” Mary finished her declaration with confidence. Gabby couldn't be certain if it was a false confidence or not and hoped her friend was right for all their sakes.

  A few more minutes of quiet wandering brought the girls to a set of metal double doors. One side was opened inwards and as they moved closer they heard the sound of raised voices. Gabby squinted her eyes in the effort of listening as she walked. The voices at first were crackly, almost indistinct, coupled with clear speech and Gabby realised they could hear a radio conversation.

  “Manhattan will stay online until the all clear.” The girls heard the hiss and whine of static.

  “Understood, sir. But from the Intel we're receiving here that could be a very long time.” Mary and Gabby stopped walking as one of the men inside the room responded. Mary's arm tightened around her friend's.

  “Major. We have no idea what's happening.” The radio whined as if in protest causing all close by to grimace. “We are looking at a systematic attack on every nation capable of placing a military force in the field, sea and air.” The voice paused again and the radio crackled during the silence, as if it was seemingly curious itself now as to what was occurring in the outside world. “Government buildings are also being targeted, there is no goddamn precedence for an invasion like this!” The radio fell silent without a crackle of static or whine in the air.

  “Sir? Please respond!” The voice from inside the room responded to the sudden silence. After a minute of dead air, the girls heard the same man curse and he marched out of the room and almost into them. “What the bloody hell are…” He looked the girls up and down a look of utter confusion on his face. Gabby recognised him as the man who had given them the brief talk in the control room before the alarms had sounded, Chief, or apparently, Major, Anderson. The confusion was fleeting and the man's face became slightly softer. “Sorry, girls.” He said with a sigh. “I'd forgotten we had guests.” He looked back over his shoulder to the room he'd come from. “I assume you heard that conversation?” His face wrinkled and flushed with embarrassment and Gabby felt her own guilt at eavesdropping. Both she and Mary nodded.

  “We've watched the news coming in as well.” Gabby said quietly. The man closed his eyes briefly before giving them both quite a hard stare.

  “Then you know what we face is real and why we're down here?”

  Mary swallowed nervously so Gabby replied for them.

  “Yes. But, why?” She asked with a shrug. “What's so important about this place?”

  Mary cleared her throat.

  “And when do we get to go home or speak to our parents?”

  Gabby turned her head to her friend and nodded.

  “And do you have a doctor down here? One of our frie…classmates isn't feeling well. And some food and something to drink?”

  The man rolled his eyes and swore.

  * * *

  “The majority of the site is classified under the Official Secrets Act but I will tell you what I can.” The man, the girls now knew as Major Jeremy Anderson, had listened to all the requests laid before him with a great deal of patience and promptly turned Mary and Gabby over to a junior officer, Lieutenant William McCaffrey, who was trying his best to bring his 'guests' up to speed as best as he could.

  The three girls and their teacher had been moved further into the complex deep underneath the nuclear power station and shown into a common room where they were given food and drink. Brooke and Mr Harris left soon after to visit the onsite medic and returned shortly with some medication for Brooke. Brooke seemed a great deal calmer so Mary and Gabby didn't question what the girl had taken though they tried their best not to look too long in the girl's direction. Introductions were made and the Lieutenant attempted to explain what was going on.

  “After 9/11 security reviews were mandatory at any potential terrorist target. One of the key facilities it was thought a group of trained radicals would attack would be a nuclear power station. Security here, as you know, requires a group to book a tour some months in advance and send information on all visitors that will be attending. Then on the day of your visit you produce your passport or other I.D and go through a metal detector and scanner. If anyone of the group have not brought their passport they get to sit out the tour in one of our secure rooms.” The lieutenant paused as another man came over to the small group currently sitting about a long, metal table used for feeding tens at a time. The lieutenant was handed a note which he studied quickly and screwed into a tight ball. “Tell Dr Eames I shall see him shortly, but stay with him please.” The order was acknowledged with a nod and the man left. “Excuse me.” He apologised. “Dr Eames is one of our nuclear physicists onsite when this happened, I'll introduce you later.” The officer's eyes drifted away and Gabby saw it happen when he'd said the word 'later.' At that point she guessed he was
wondering if there was going to be a later. She reasoned it was an accurate guess as that thought had occurred to her. “Anyway,” he continued, “in the event of an attack new protocols were to be put into place. The control room you saw would be sealed away until the crisis had passed. During that time any technicians or scientists would be effectively quarantined, to all intents and purposes, safely underground in this bunker. If terrorists were identified, then measures would be taken from down here to isolate them.” McCaffrey cocked an eyebrow as he spoke the last words meaning that his idea of isolation was something quite permanent. “In our current situation the control room is locked down and we are secure in the bunker.” He reached for a pitcher of water and proceeded to fill a glass.

  “So my students are safe?” Mr Harris asked, casting a sideways glance at Brooke. McCaffrey nodded.

  “Down here certainly, you are in the best possible place during a time like this.” Gabby forced herself to the point of digging her nails into her legs so as to not roll her eyes at such a statement. “Your tour group would've been escorted away under military guard. All I currently know is that they were underway safely.” Mr Harris flicked a nervous smile at the soldier. “Well, that's the basics anyway. We are still trying to ascertain what is going on out there but I'm sure your wait won't be too long.” The lieutenant smiled and Gabby saw the strain in the man's eyes. As he rose from the bench Mary raised her hand in the air. McCaffrey raised his eyebrows in response.

  “What you've just told us about his place is quite amazing.” Mary spoke softly forcing the army officer to sit back down to hear her. “And it made me wonder that if you could tell us all about what's down here then what are you not telling us because of the Official Secrets Act.” Gabby turned a shocked expression on her friend, in awe of her reasoning. The lieutenant smiled but it was a sickly smile.

  “Let's not worry about that okay? You're safe. Major Anderson has assigned me as your liaison. We'll speak again later.” He said rising quickly. A tremor caused the officer to lose his balance and he fell unceremoniously back into his seat cursing. Brooke shrieked in terror as the sound of a whip cracking came from the ceiling. Dust and tiny pieces of stone sprinkled the table and the lights flickered. Gabby grabbed Mary and shoved her under the table screaming at her teacher and Brooke to do the same. More upheavals shook the cement floor and a horrific grinding noise surrounded Gabby and Mary. Gabby squeezed Mary closer to her side and looked up to see lieutenant McCaffrey kneeling at the edge of the table just beyond Gabby's reach. He was shouting into a walkie-talkie demanding a situation report. The answer was unintelligible to Gabby so she shuffled forwards slightly and grabbed McCaffrey's arm. He jerked and swivelled on his knees to face her. His expression relayed any information she wanted. In the flickering light he'd aged twenty years in a matter of minutes. His skin was almost white and his eyes round and bloodshot from dust. Seeing the frightened civilians cowering under the table brought his own level of fear down and he nodded to Gabby and placed her hand in his.

  “We're under attack.” He mouthed as shockwaves from the onslaught above reached them far below the surface. Gabby couldn't comprehend the forces at play for them to be felt in the bunker. Another titanic crack blasted away all conscious thought and Gabby screwed up her eyes and screamed her mind repeating one simple phrase.

  I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!

  She sobbed in terror as larger pieces of cement hit the table above her head. Gabby had instinctively looked up at the first hit opening her eyes so she saw the moment the lights flickered one final time before plunging the entire room into black.

  Silent Running

  The International Space Station, so long a symbol of unity for the planet Earth circled her home planet in low orbit at four hundred kilometres above the blue world lifeless, her mission abandoned and crew departed long ago.

  After the first wave of major attacks by the dragons upon mankind seemed to draw to a conclusion, military forces around the globe found themselves not only reeling in shock at the perpetrators of the destruction but to some degree became aware that nothing in the experience of mankind and the wars waged had prepared for a battle of this kind. To that end the crew were asked to utilise equipment originally built to monitor glaciers, agriculture, cities, coral reefs and the impact of mankind itself on the Earth, in conjunction with satellites in an attempt to track the dragons. The goal, to find where the dragons were launching their devastating sorties from. The crew, over the coming weeks, were unique witnesses to the dragon's ferocity, observing countless massive smoke plumes rising high into the atmosphere, as any city of appreciable size was put to the flame. Hours of footage was recorded and analysed back on Earth by militaries of many countries in a vain attempt to coordinate a defence and response.

  With the dragon's apparently randomised attacks on crucial facilities around the world the decision to abandon the world's first multicultural space station was made swiftly, the safety of the astronaut's paramount. Six months after the dragons had destroyed several key installations of the American, Russian and Chinese military the equipment on-board the I.S.S. was set to receive its new mission parameters from the ground, for as long as that was possible and the crew departed for their home planet.

  Cameras and satellites passively monitored the annihilation of airbase after airbase due to the dragon's immense power and fury. Planes, hangars and even housing for personnel were fired and reduced to so much rubble that nothing was left recognisable. The fastest interceptors from the nearest airbases were deployed and would arrive to find the carnage already well underway. Dogfights became reminiscent of World War II battles but mankind's technological advantages over those of small fighter planes of over eighty years ago meant nothing against the nimble and highly manoeuvrable dragons. Missiles that were used to lock onto targets miles away were completely ineffective against an opponent that could vanish in an instant only to reappear when the planes moved closer to the fight.

  Planes of all nations were effectively grounded. Useless as fighter planes and equally redundant as transport for personnel and cargo. Escort duties quickly became voluntary though the human loss was considered too high a price to pay and air superiority was lost. Those remaining countries with enough of an intact navy still functioning, moved their ships within striking distance of their own capital cities and seats of government. The strategy, to defend these areas with missiles launched from distance. A strategy not too different from the fighter planes defending the land below them but the military had realised their losses were high and the situation desperate. At first the ships were considerably more effective than their air force counterparts but only in close quarters. Guns blazed on every deck around the world as the dragons launched their attacks on the mainland and at sea. The dragons suffered their first major losses, inflicting a rash hope in their human enemies. Any hope was short lived, the dragons adapted rapidly to the evolving human tactics. Single ships were located and targeted for destruction. When the fight commenced a single battleship was faced with well over one hundred dragons raining down fire from above. Battleships and aircraft carriers were unable to respond to such an overwhelming show of power. Ships by the hundreds and their respective crews were annihilated. The surviving craft were sent as close to shore as possible by their superiors who'd seen what fate awaited them, to offer safe haven to any in contact. The captains in command of the submarines were given one explicit order, survive.

  Government control, commerce and infrastructures fell on a worldwide scale. Police and remaining armies struggled to stabilise the situation. The nature of the dragon attacks poured cold fear into the minds of every populace, as there was no discernible pattern for people to follow. Cities, towns, villages, farms, every place around the world where humans had established a foothold, no matter the size, suffered the same fate as the mighty battleships that were no more. The dragons did not relent. Riots became commonplace as food, water and energy came under threat.

&n
bsp; Governments did not so much fall as vanish. Any forward plans by government leaders to sit out the destruction in relative safety to ensure the continuity of order were laid waste as the means of communication by technology were destroyed and the outside world was hidden from them. As communication networks died martial law was introduced, primarily by those army commanders on the ground as they strove to protect what was becoming a desperate situation for all.

  The annihilation of the human race continued bloody year after bloody year. It fell to those still alive to band together with any surviving military to create conclaves, safe havens under the dubious and unreliable protection of surface to air missiles and any weapons to hand or could be fashioned. Great walls were erected as swiftly as possible to contain these last vestiges of mankind. Not all were successful as the dragons launched attack after attack until all but ash remained. Castles and their surrounding buildings became the most successful of these havens, medieval technology and craftsmanship proving by far more effective than their modern day counterparts. Humanity clung on in dark places underground. Making use of labyrinths constructed hundreds of years before.

  Homo Sapiens was successfully replaced as the dominant animal on the planet as the dragons multiplied and flourished growing stronger with each passing year. The last bastions of humanity held on but only at the favour of the dragons.

  Still the International Space Station collected its data and downloaded the information. But there was no one left to study it let alone receive it. The pictures of an Earth spinning dark far below marked clearly the near absolute perfect destruction the dragons had wrought on humanity. Cities no longer gleamed as a mark of civilisation as the space station traversed beyond the terminator and into night. Mankind had fallen into darkness.