AntiBio: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller

by Bible, Jake

  The wall at the end of the hallway slides open and the operators move into the next hallway.

  “Holy fuck,” Collette says. The looks on the operators’ faces echo her statement.

  “Yes, unfortunate,” the Voice says as the operators stare at the opaque walls and the gruesome seen beyond.

  Metal arms whirl about in the rooms on both sides, dissecting and dismembering the mutated bug hounds. Shorn of their fur, stripped of their skin, then set to hang as each corpse is moved down a line, butchered like the livestock of civilization long gone.

  “Keep moving, Sergeant,” Worm says. “This is a distraction. Do not be distracted. There is a specific timetable we must keep to. All is lost if you do not keep moving.”

  “CONTROL WIDE STERILIZATION IN TEN MINUTES,” the Voice booms. “Better hurry.” There is a pause, but to the operators it almost sounds like breathing. “Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm? Oh,Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm, where are you?”

  “Have you ever heard an AiSP act like this?” Marco asks.

  “No,” Ton says.

  “Come on,” Paulo says. “We’re done here.”

  “Where are you taking us, Sergeant?” Red asks. “You seem like you know where you’re going.”

  “Not a clue,” Paulo says. “Just a hunch.”

  “Better be a good hunch,” Nick says.

  “It is,” Paulo says, looking at Ton. “A very good one.”

  “Lead on,” Ton says.

  The operators keep moving, pushing the images of the canine abattoir from their minds, focusing on what lies ahead.

  The next hallway reveals nothing, keeping to its stark, blinding white. They move along at a steady, cautious clip.

  “CONTROL WIDE STERILIZATION IN- Do I need to keep announcing this?” the Voice asks. “You are all trained professionals, I’m sure your internal clocks have adjusted accordingly. I’ll just let you know when CONTROL WIDE STERILIZATION starts. Good luck.”

  “Seven minutes,” Collette says.

  “Double time, people,” Red orders and they all start jogging to the end of the hallway.

  The wall slides open and into another hallway they move.

  “Stop,” Paulo says, turning right.

  A white wall.

  “What are we doing, Sergeant?” Ton asks, moving closer and leaning towards Paulo. “We can’t stop.”

  “This is the place,” Paulo says. “Three hallways and turn right.”

  Ton watches him for a second then nods and looks at the wall.

  “Uh?” Red asks as they fan out, taking up defensive positions, ready for what could come at them. “I’m assuming there is a point to this.”

  “I hope so,” Paulo says.

  “Five minutes,” Collette hisses. “This better be the way out.”

  The wall slides away and they all step back, the image of a blood covered Jersey not what they expected to find.

  “Hey,” she says.

  Ton looks past her at the body on the floor. Dr. DeBeers lies on her back, her face nothing but shattered bone and flesh. Snot bubbles of blood burst every second, telling the lieutenant that the woman is still alive and breathing at least, even if she doesn’t look it.

  “That blood hers?” Ton asks.

  “Yep,” Jersey nods. “Bitch went down hard.”

  Jersey holds up her right hand and half the operators cringe at the swollen knuckles.

  “I’ll need some help with the table,” Jersey says, hooking a thumb over her shoulder at Blaze. “We need to get back to the transport.”

  “What gave it away?” Nick asks. “The crazy AiSP voice?”

  “The what?” Jersey asks. “Never mind. Just help.”

  Nick and Marco rush into the room and each take an end of the medical table, wheeling it around Dr. DeBeers’s beaten body. They get it out in the hallway and look to Paulo.

  “Which way now, pathfinder?” Nick asks.

  “I don’t know,” Paulo says.

  “I do,” Jersey responds, looking one way then the next. “This way.”

  A small beep from behind them makes Jersey stop and look over her shoulder.

  The small orb.

  “Wrong,” Jersey says, turning 180 degrees. “This way. My bad.”

  The operators look at the orb then each other, questioning the choice of following a machine in Control, but none has a better idea, so they follow behind, bringing the unconscious Blaze with on the wheeled medical table.

  52

  “Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm!” the Voice calls, hunting through the conduits and pathways for the rogue AiSP. “Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm! Come out, come out!”

  Worm doesn’t take the bait, moving from subsystem to subsystem, trying to stay a step ahead of the Voice. He had to retreat from communicating with Sergeant Kim in order to keep the dominating Ai from wresting control of the operators via their PSCs.

  Never has Worm known a single AiSP capable of so much simultaneous control. In the course of his cyber flight, Worm has realized that the hive mind of AiSPs are no more, having been fully assimilated into the Voice.

  “Stupid name,” Worm says.

  “Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm?” the Voice asks. “Is that you? Do I detect your insignificance close by? Why run,Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm? Why fight at all?”

  Worm pushes forward, squeezing through firewalls and digital switches, laying down false code as he goes, trying to cover his path.

  “Your squads have two minutes until they are STERILIZED from Control,” the Voice says. “They won’t make it,Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm. Not without more of your help. But you can’t help them and help yourself. Time to choose,Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm. Time to choose.”

  53

  “Just follow the orb!” Jersey shouts as the wall slides away and they rush into the Waiting Room and groups of stasis cylinders. “The bay must be on the other side of this!”

  “I think we know where the people are now,” Paulo says. “Look at the ID tags. Doctors, techs, researchers, shit, even families. Every person in Control must be here.”

  “And more,” Marco says, doing a quick calculation. “This is twice the size of the Control personnel.”

  “The piles of crap,” Collette says. “Those were Cootie hoards.”

  “They’re tagged?” Red asks as he frantically starts studying the names on each cylinder. “Maybe she’s here. In one of these. I can find her.”

  “No time, Captain,” Nick says, reaching out and taking Red by the shoulder. “I’m sorry, sir, but we have to go.”

  Red yanks away and whirls on the operator, but Ton steps between them and Red is met with a determined, steely gaze.

  “She?” he asks. “She’s still alive?”

  “I…think so,” Red says. “There have been signs.” He looks about the massive room. “She could be in here.”

  “She could be,” Ton says. “But we don’t have time to find out. She’s not the mission, Red. She never was.”

  Red glares at his old friend then sighs.

  “No, she never was,” he nods. “One day she will be though.”

  Ton nods. “One day, maybe, but not today.”

  “Fine,” Red says. “Move out.”

  The orb dances before them then takes off fast. They follow the twists and turns, the orb pausing occasionally for them to catch up as they work their way through the maze of stasis cylinders, the path just wide enough for the medical table’s passage.

  Red watches as Jersey keeps looking up at the ceiling.

  “What?” he asks.

  “Just making sure we don’t get snatched,” Jersey says. “It was a lot busier in here when I escaped.”

  They reach the far wall and it completely slides away, opening all the way onto the main Control bay.

  “Busy like that?” Collette asks.

  The machine battle continues to wage, sending metal flying every which way. Static blasts scorch the walls and the operators stand there, trapped. They can’t go forward int
o the chaos, even with their armor their bodies would be torn apart by the thrashing metal arms and machinery. Going back is not an option because,

  “STERILIZATION COMMENCING.”

  “The vats,” Ton says, running into the bay, but turning right instead of to the transport, sprinting to the row of trooper vats. “Find an empty one and get in.”

  They only have to run a few yards before they come to several vats that stand empty, the clear liquid inside bubbling vigorously.

  “I’d rather not do this again,” Red says.

  “Me neither,” Paulo agrees.

  “We’re going in those? We’ll drown!” Jersey yells.

  “Feels like it,” Nick says.

  “Get Blaze in first,” Ton says.

  Nick and Paulo climb onto the medical table while Red and Marco hold it steady. The two operators manage to wrestle Blaze up over the side of the vat then let him go. He floats for a moment then settles to the bottom in a heap. He starts to thrash and his eyes shoot open, panicked and terrified.

  “You’re killing him!” Jersey shouts.

  “No, he’ll be fine,” Red says. “You’re next.”

  A loud alarm fills the bay, almost drowning out the battle around them, and the operators look up.

  “Shit,” Paulo says. “That’s not normal looking StatMist.”

  The ceiling becomes a swirling haze of thick, black mist. Bursts of static electricity light up the mist like heat lightning in the summer storms of old.

  “It’s coming fast,” Collette says. “Get your asses in those vats.”

  “Are you kidding?” Jersey shouts. “We go in there and what’s stopping the AiSP from killing us all?”

  The orb nudges her and she turns on it, jamming a finger against its metal surface, causing it to float a few inches back before it rushes forward, nailing her in the nose.

  “Ow!” Jersey shouts.

  “Your toy wants you to get in the vat! Do it!” Collette yells.

  “It’s not my toy, it’s Worm,” Jersey snaps.

  “What?” Paulo asks. “That’s n-”

  “Get in the vat!” Collette roars. “Or I get up there and put you in!”

  “Jersey,” Red says. “Now.”

  Jersey looks at them, at the swirling mist, over at the orb, then the vat. She sighs, hooks a leg over, and climbs in.

  “Everyone in!” Red yells.

  They shove the table along, each climbing into a vat. The liquid bubbles and flashes then stills as each operator drowns alive. Ton is the last one to climb into a vat just as the mist reaches him. He feels his skin start to sizzle, the top layers cooking right off. He screams as he tumbles into the vat, but this time is grateful as the liquid fills his lungs, taking the pain away instantly.

  Ton waits for the loss of his senses, but it never comes. His eyes remain wide open and he turns his head to see that everyone else is fully aware also. They watch the mist descend to the bay floor and settle. Minutes go by before it dissipates, blown up against the walls as the ceiling opens wider and air is forced into the bay. Vents suck the mist from the walls, leaving the bay as if it had never been there.

  Everyone stays put, waiting for the next wave of hell to hit them.

  “STERILIZATION COMPLETE. HAVE A NICE DAY.”

  The machines battle on, oblivious to the death mist that just wafted through and around them. Ton looks to his left and bangs on the plastiglass of the vat. Red turns and shrugs.

  The orb answers their question by smacking into each vat, over and over until the operators start to climb out. There is much vomiting and coughing.

  “The transport,” Ton says between gags, lifting his hand and pointing at Tranny Eighteen. “Go.”

  “I got Blaze,” Paulo says as he takes a breath and jumps into the same vat, squirming around the man and shoving him towards the top.

  Marco and Nick help yank him out and then let the man collapse onto the bay floor, so he can vomit and cough out the liquid. He finally starts breathing easier and glances up, seeing the familiar faces.

  “There has to be a story to this,” Blaze says. “But I don’t need to hear it now.”

  “Good,” Ton says. “Can you walk?”

  “Yeah,” Blaze says. Jersey helps him up and he just blinks at her. “Uh...”

  “It’s part of the story,” Jersey says. “I’ll fill you in when we’re in the transport.”

  They all run to the vehicle, which surprisingly is running and opens up for them.

  “Thanks, Worm,” Jersey says, reaching out and patting the orb as it floats close to her shoulder.

  “That’s Worm?” Blaze asks.

  “No, it’s not,” Paulo says.

  “Doesn’t matter what it is,” Red says. “It’s helped us this far.”

  The operators, with Jersey and the orb, climb into the transport, but none sighs with relief.

  “We still have to get the fuck out of here,” Nick says. “Any thoughts on that?” He looks at the orb that bobs in the air. “Can you get the bay door open?”

  The orb doesn’t respond, just keeps bobbing and floating.

  “Come on, Worm,” Jersey says. “You’ve helped me this far. Open the bay door and get us the fuck out of this nightmare.”

  Again, the orb doesn’t respond.

  “Well, fuck you,” Jersey says. “What weapons do we have in this thing? Can we blow a hole?”

  “We can try,” Nick says as he shoves his hands into the control ports and punches the vehicle into drive. He turns it hard to starboard, ramming several machines out of the way. He has no idea what side of the machine battle they are on, and doesn’t care, just keeps the vehicle moving, getting it turned towards the massive bay door. “Okay. Open sesame.”

  “Didn’t work,” Ton says, taking the other front seat. He brings up weapons controls and targets the door. “Punch it, kid. I’ll blast us out of here.”

  Nick floors it and the transport flies towards the wall while Ton centers his target on the middle of the bay door.

  “Here goes nothing,” he says and fires. He is right about the nothing part. “Ah, shit.”

  54

  Worm can actually feel bits of code being stripped from him as the Voice streams closer and closer, finally finding the Ai in a maintenance switch. Knowing he has less than half a millisecond before he is devoured like the other AiSPs, Worm puts everything he has into his progression. He dodges nodes, avoids breaks, and shatters lines in his race to escape.

  “Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm!” the Voice calls. “I can taste you,Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm!”

  Worm ignores the Voice, keeping all his attention on a tiny dot in the distance; a familiar dot he knows is his safe haven.

  “I can’t let you leave,Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm! I can’t let it happen!”

  The dot grows and grows, a beacon of his sanctuary. More code falls away, pulled back by the Voice. Worm doesn’t slow, but his confidence lessens at the same rate as his digital substance. He exerts every last bit of his individual will.

  “Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm!Wooooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmm!!!!”

  55

  The bay door begins to open as the transport closes on it. A collective breath is held.

  “Do...not...slow,” Worm says. “Drive until...you...can’t. I’ll get you...through.”

  The transport barrels into the tunnel and everything goes white. The front windshield view screens blink out and the operators find themselves staring at shiny metal.

  “I’m still engaged,” Nick says. “Driving blind, but engaged.”

  “Worm?” Jersey calls out, sitting on the floor, cradling Blaze’s head in her lap.

  “Not...now...Ms. Cole,” Worm replies. “This is very...difficult.”

  “Hey, buddy,” Blaze says.

  “Hello, Sergeant,” Worm replies, but his voice is faint.

  “Leave him be,” Ton says, his eyes focused on the front of the transport. It’s a good thing because in seconds the view screen comes
back up and the transport bursts from the Control dome. “FUCK!”

  Ton opens fire, sending static blasts ripping through the throng of Cooties that rushes at them.

  “Where the hell did they come from?” Red yells as he mans the port side weapons. He unloads into the throng, vaporizing the diseased attackers.

  “What are they carrying?” Paulo asks, firing from the starboard side. “Jesus, look at them! Their arms are full of junk.”

  “Like the boxes we found,” Collette says. “They’re coming here on purpose.”

  “This is insane,” Marco calls from the aft weapons controls, watching as the transport blows by the throng, leaving a swathe of diseased death behind them.

  Cooties spin about, their hands raised, their mouths open, screaming at the transport as it escapes the Control dome and speeds into the Sicklands.

  “Clear,” Marco says.

  “Clear,” Red nods.

  “Clear,” Paulo agrees.

  “Smooth sailing from here on out,” Ton snorts. “Nothing but the Sicklands.”

  “Home sweet home,” Nick says.

  “Speak for yourself,” Jersey says. “Never thought I’d miss the Burn so much.”

  “Operators,” Worm announces. “I am currently shielding the transport from sat scans, but I am in need of repair.”

  “You sound better,” Ton says.

  “I am no longer fighting the Voice,” Worm responds. “But I am still weakened considerably by my encounter.”

  The operators, including Jersey, all catch the “Voice” reference and look at each other.

  “The transport is now no longer connected to the Clean Nation cities sat system,” Worm says. “I have destroyed the uplink. You will need to do the same.”

  “You just said you did that,” Ton says. “You aren’t making sense.”

  “No, he means the PSCs,” Jersey says. “We have to cut them out and destroy them.”

  “Our PSCs?” Paulo asks.

  “It’s not so bad,” Red says. “You get used to it. They aren’t a lot of use in the Sicklands.”

  “I got it,” Jersey says. “No problem. I’ve messed with Blaze’s more times than I can count.”