The Troll continued to walk through the intake area and spotted two people in an office. Hope had been out of her room walking around the area since there was nothing else better to do. She was watching Barron as the Troll entered the level and she jumped into his office when she saw it. The Troll did not hesitate to enter the office. Seeing two humans that could be assimilated, it grabbed them both by the legs and began to drag them. Both Barron and Hope were kicking but to no avail. The Troll continued to drag them toward the exit. Dr. Snodgrass saw the Troll approaching and swung a broom at it. With Hope still in its grips, the Troll pushed the broom aside. Dr. Snodgrass stood there, mouth agape, as the Troll’s claw pierced her throat and stuffed it into her windpipe. She grabbed the Troll’s arm in vain. She faded and fell to the ground.
The Troll walked back up the stairs and through the door, dragging Barron and Hope behind it. Hope was yelling and Barron was still struggling. The Troll doubled back. In the meantime, Quill had killed another Troll and found the breech. He reported the finding to Marcus and returned to the door but did not notice that the Troll had passed through his area. “Quill back on station,” he reported.
Jay pushed and shoved and the door finally budged enough to fit his husky body. He squeezed through the small opening and looked around. “Hope, Hope,” he called out with no response. He saw Joel and Dr. Snodgrass on the floor and called for Hope again. “Hope, Hope,” his yells got louder and still no response. He had no idea where she could have gone but she should have let him know she was okay by now. He looked around and thought there was only one person who could help him. He ran into the office and grabbed the keys for the Sanitarium. “Maddie, I need your help,” he yelled as he ran to the door. He flung the door open and Maddie got to her feet. He begged her for help and she followed him out to the intake area. They made their way to the stairwell and up the stairs.
Jay and Maddie burst through the door. Quill turned around quickly and readied his blade for attack. Maddie screamed, “No Quill,” raising her hands to show she wasn’t hostile.
“What are you doing up here? We are under attack,” Quill said.
“We know, where’s Hope?” Jay asked. He looked down at the two beheaded Trolls thinking Quill had stopped them.
“There was no one with these things. I killed them before they had a chance to attack. And then killed them again when they tried to grow back,” Quill told Jay. Jay nodded distractedly. The disappearance of Hope was tearing him apart.
“Where did she go?” Jay desperately spun around looking for any evidence of where Hope had gone. Quill knew that he hadn’t seen anyone in the direction that he had run. He pointed his blade in the other direction.
“They must’ve gone that way,” he said. Maddie saw an opportunity to grab another orbitizer. She crouched down and held it ready to fire. She looked up at Jay.
“I’m with you Jay,” she said. They started to run around the corner and left the building to find Hope.
More Trolls moved through the breech that was defended by Marcus and his two soldiers. The blue orbs had been hitting the wall, taking it away bit by bit. The wall was a foot wider than it had been. Marcus looked down toward the floor and noticed that some of the orbs had hit there too. Another shot hurtled toward them and hit one of the other soldiers. He fell to the ground with his shoulder gone. His arm fell and his torso landed on it. The soldier continued to shoot at the breech and a flurry of orbs came in his direction. Orb after orb hit him and the floor. Marcus watched as the soldier disappeared in front of him and also saw the orbs remove the floor. Then he saw it. The communications center was unmasked and open below him.
Ben looked up as he heard the change in gunshot volume. “That is as far as they can go. Blow the dam and evacuate,” Ben told the radio operator.
The radio operator stood up, “Blow the dam,” he directed over the radio. The radio operators yanked off their headsets and made for the exit. Ben and the General were the last ones out of the communications center.
Marcus called to his team, “We’re blowing the dam, make for high ground.” He started to go up to the second floor. Quill heard the command. He was too far from access to the second floor, so he headed for the breech.
Maddie and Jay had just made it outside the control building. There were no Trolls in sight. Visibility was low due to the fighting and debris, so sight was not the most reliable judge. “It must’ve taken her back to its base,” Jay told Maddie.
Maddie clutched the orbitizer and said, “We need to move. We aren’t getting any closer to her standing here.” They began their run along the river toward the metal wall. A figure came out of the cloud that had formed and Maddie was taken by surprise. It wasn’t a Troll. It was a man with red scarring. He was holding an orbitizer. She looked at his face. She couldn’t believe what she saw. It was Bryce.
Explosions inundated the dam and it began to crack. Fountains of water began to pour out until the dam gave way. With a huge crumble, the former lake above started a deluge on the flatland below. Maddie looked into Bryce’s eyes as the water lifted them up and swept them away.
DAY 282
ESCAPE
CAMP PHOENIX CONTROL BUILDING
Water rushed into the building and created eddies near the openings. Ben and the General exited the first staircase and the water was already thigh deep. They made their way toward the stairs leading to the second floor but the General was swept under the water. Ben grabbed for his hand but missed it and the General continued to drift away. The General’s head emerged from the water and then his body lunged toward the stairs. He extended his hand outward and yelled, “Ben!” Ben went to grab his hand again but once he made contact, a Troll jumped out of the water and tried to claw over the General to the stairs. Ben pulled out his gun and emptied the magazine directly into the Troll’s head. The Troll stopped moving toward the stairs. It fell into the water but its claws were so engrained in the General that he sunk with the weight of the Troll. Ben knew that the General could not be saved. He waited for a moment just in case the General resurfaced. Silence was on the surface of the water. He sighed, trying to come to terms with the loss of the General, and hurried up the stairs.
Marcus greeted Ben as he made it to the second floor. “How many more are behind you?” Marcus asked him. Ben was short on breath.
“No one, I’m the last,” he said. Ben put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Marcus looked down the stairs and saw the water still rising.
“We need to go up to the roof,” he yelled to everyone that had evacuated the lower levels. Marcus grabbed Ben under his arm and pulled him to move.
“We need to go,” Marcus said with a tug. Ben, still catching his breath, followed him. The evacuees went up a ladder that led to the roof. Marcus helped Ben up the ladder just as the water began to fill the second floor. Marcus was the last one up.
Everyone had grouped away from the opening to the lower levels. Marcus reached the roof and pointed to two soldiers, “Both of you, guard the opening. Shoot anything that tries to come through there.” The soldiers took position as Marcus went towards the crowd.
He approached Ben and said, “We did a good job.” Ben moved his shoulder away from Marcus’ reach.
“We could have done better. Look out there, any memory of the people who died is being removed. The General is gone and the camp is unusable,” Ben said.
Marcus shook his head, “You don’t get it. Stop being so damn hard on yourself. They didn’t win and that’s the best we have ever done.” Ben nodded and looked over to the dam. The structure that had once held water back had turned into a waterfall. “You had to blow the dam. If you didn’t then they would have got to the communications center. That would have been their endgame,” Marcus continued to console Ben.
Ethen hadn’t been listening but joined the conversation, “Where’s the General?”
“He didn’t make it,” Ben replied. Ethen took a second for the news to sink in.
“What do we do now, General?” he asked Ben.
Ben hadn’t thought about it but he was the second-in-command. With the General’s death, that left him as the senior officer. He turned to Marcus and Ethen, “Do we stay and try to rebuild or do we go someplace else? A new camp or an existing base?”
“We rebuild here. We already have the infrastructure. It’ll take work but they are more likely to attack another camp,” Ethen answered.
Marcus nodded in agreement. “I agree, when the water goes down, we know how to fight the Trolls. We’ll be better prepared to fight them next time,” he said. Ben turned toward the flooded basin and stared at the water. He tried to look down at the tanks, the artillery, and the people. He knew he wasn’t going to see them.
“That’s fine. We’ll start when the water goes down. But in the meantime, I think we should concentrate on food and ammo. They’re the bare essentials we’ll need to get through this,” Ben said. Marcus and Ethen acknowledged the directive and started to create a plan immediately.
Marcus told Ethen, “You know where all of the storage areas are. I’ll concentrate on getting food and you get the munitions together.”
“I’ll do my part. There’s food stored on top of that hill. That would be the best place for you to start looking,” Ethen said. Marcus was glad there was something that was easier than hunting rabbits.
“Good, we’ll split everyone in half and get done what needs to be done,” Marcus said.
“Agreed,” Ethen said, and walked over to the crowd. It was time to divide them up.
DAY 283
HOPE IS LOST
ROAN MOUNTAIN STATE PARK
“Human, human, wake up.” Rho was trying to get Maddie to wake up. Rho knew she was alive because if she wasn’t, it wouldn’t be able to tell her to wake up. Maddie was lying in pine needles drenched from head to toe.
She raised her head from the muddy ground and called out, “Bryce.” She fell back to the ground and thought about how she had finally found him and then lost him again.
“He is a vessel now,” Rho told her. She lay on the ground, muscles refusing to move.
“How do you know? You didn’t see him,” Maddie asked.
“Human, I did see him through your eye. Did you notice his scars? They were the color of a healed vessel,” Rho explained,
Maddie thought in anger, “How do you know? Those scars could be from something else.”
“I know that, human, but it is nothing but a vessel for the others. The human’s body does not belong to the human that you knew,” Rho thought to her with no emotion in its words.
Maddie thought back, “Then we have to save him so he isn’t a vessel anymore.”
“Human, once one becomes a vessel for them, it is no longer what it was. It is connected only with their leader’s commands. What you remember of this vessel you call Bryce is no longer. Its brain has been replaced to serve their leader,” Rho corrected her thought process. Maddie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. There had to be something that could be done.
“Rho, could you help me save him?” she asked.
“Human, I could try to change its objective but that would mean that the vessel rejected their leader for my commands. It still would not return your Bryce,” Rho replied.
“That’s a start and we can go from there,” Maddie told Rho.
Maddie stood up and looked around. The entire area was waterlogged from the floodwaters. Neither Bryce nor Jay nor Hope was anywhere to be seen. She was cautious in her movements. If she had been swept away, then she realized that there was a possibility that a Troll could be in the area too. She had lost her orbitizer in the torrent from the dam. She had no gun and had to move quietly. Not the best recipe to find someone.
She looked for any signs that somebody was around her. She studied the flow and saw some articles on the ground. A few items were definitely human. Diving goggles were five feet in front of her. Since Jay was heavy set, she looked upstream from where she was. She spotted someone walking toward her and as she figured, it was Jay.
“Did you find Hope?” Jay called out as he made his way through the brush. Maddie touched her fingers to her lips.
“Shhhhhh, don’t make too much noise, you don’t know what’s out here. And no, I haven’t seen Hope,” she said. Jay was disappointed with the news. After a few hundred feet, he joined Maddie.
“Then where do we go from here? We have no idea where they took her. We don’t even know where to start looking,” Jay said.
“We need to find a vessel to interface with,” Rho thought to Maddie.
“I know that is our best bet,” she thought to Rho and told Jay, “We need to start here to look for clues.”
Jay and Maddie started to scan the grounds to look for anything that might lead them in the right direction. They walked in opposite directions. After a few steps, Jay asked, “Have you found anything yet?”
Maddie turned around and put her hands on her hips, “Really? I’m ten steps away from you.” Jay shrugged his shoulders.
“Just askin’,” he said. They both turned around and started looking again. Jay surveyed the ground. Maddie looked in bushes and piles of pine needles and leaves. Nothing of importance materialized. “Have you found anything yet?” Jay elevated his voice to ask again. Maddie kept looking through the woods for something, anything. Just one clue.
“No,” she called out as the distance grew between them. Maddie kept walking and couldn’t find anything. She turned around and she had lost sight of Jay. She decided to double-back to find him so they wouldn’t get separated.
“Jay,” she hollered under a hushed breath. “Jay,” she looked around to find him. She wondered where he was. She looked into the trees. There he was, his back visible through the brush. She rushed over to him, “Jay,” she tried to quietly get his attention. She moved closer and her sight was finally unobstructed by the tree. She stopped dead in her tracks. Jay was elevated with a hand clasped around his neck. He was limp, lifeless. She shifted her view to the owner of the hand. It was Bryce.
“Bryce, Bryce,” she called as she started to run towards him. His hand released Jay. Jay fell to the ground as dead weight and Bryce walked briskly towards Maddie with an orbitizer in hand. She got closer and he raised his orbitizer. She saw his aim and changed her course to approach from the opposite side. The orbitizer continued its aim in her direction. She made it within arm’s reach and Bryce’s hand went directly for her throat. His fingers tightened around her neck and Maddie was lifted off of the ground. The nanocytes began their exchange of preliminary information and Maddie knew that it was Rho’s turn to talk. She listened through her thoughts.
If you have no objective, you are required to return for new tasking, Bryce told Rho.
I will remain without objective. I am not required to assimilate the human, Rho replied to Bryce.
Our leader, the queen mother, does not allow for your dissent. Its directive is clear. You will return for tasking.
I will not return for tasking. It is your queen mother, not mine. Rho told Bryce.
Bryce gave Rho an ultimatum. If you will not return, then you will be made a threat no longer.
I am not a threat. I will not return for tasking.
Then you are a threat to the queen mother and you are to be executed.
Bryce’s grip tightened around Maddie’s neck and she felt the burning in her jugular. Her head started to feel empty.
“Rho, ask him if Bryce is still in there,” Maddie begged Rho.
“No human, you need to fight back,” Rho replied.
Bryce’s grip suddenly loosened. Maddie began to struggle and pried his hand away from her throat. She looked into the same eyes that she remembered from that ski slope so many months ago. Then she noticed blood seeping from his neck. His head started to tilt and then it was knocked off. Quill’s smiling face replaced her view of Bryce.
“Take that,” Quill said, and he kicked the head away from the body. Maddie mana
ged to open Bryce’s grip and his headless body fell to the ground.
She looked down at the body and the neck started to reform. It continued to grow as she watched and a jawline began to form. Quill swung down and another slice went through the same spot on the neck.
Maddie screamed out, “No, no, nooooo.” She reached for the orbitizer that was on the ground next to the body. Quill ripped away the second neck and threw it behind him. Maddie grasped the orbitizer and aimed it right at Quill. Quill noticed what she was doing and jumped out of the line of fire and positioned himself behind Maddie.
He grabbed her and put his blade to her throat. “I saw it. You are one of them. If you ever try to kill me again, I will make you just like him,” he said. His cold raspy words blew into Maddie’s ears. She stood there, took a calming breath, and dropped the orbitizer.
“Okay,” she said with an exhale. Quill released his hold on her and quickly jumped away.
“You helped me out of the hospital and this time I helped you. We’re even,” he said. Maddie picked up the orbitizer, careful not to point it toward Quill.
Genetic Drift Page 18
