The sound is almost deafening in the confines of the tunnel.
When we arrive at the station people throw their hands down to help us up. I hadn’t noticed until now it’s raised a few feet off the tunnel floor. Stilwell urges everyone to give us room and they do, stepping backwards to free up space.
“Do you want to see what the outside world thinks happened to you?” Stilwell asks.
“They think we’re dead, yeah?” I reply.
“Yep, check it out,” he says pointing at a screen mounted to a wall. “It’s a hacked feed of the death match. We’ll replay your exit from the game.”
He nods to a person standing near the screen who mutters something too quietly for me to catch. The screen blinks and then shows Kara and me in the boneyards as we’re closing in on the furnace.
Over the next few minutes we watch as an explosion spews fire and smoke from inside the furnace.
There’s a small square in one corner of the screen where a man is talking excitedly about what is happening.
After the second explosion the screen changes into a picture showing the faces of each person recruited for the death match.
Everyone except Kara, me, and the big guy have red crosses over our faces. Seconds later accompanied by a thumping boom Kara and I also get red crosses stamped across us. The big guy who is apparently called “Head Crusher” is announced as the winner.
The screen changes back to inside the boneyard and shows Head Crusher looking cheerful.
“Head Crusher, can you hear me? It’s Keith, the host of Death Match,” asks the excited man on screen.
Head Crusher looks for the source of the voice until he realizes it’s coming from his collar.
“Yeah, I can hear you,” he growls through the screen. “Everyone’s dead, right? So let me out.”
“Not just yet,” Keith replies, “we’ve got one last formality still to take care of. We’re now crossing to our lucky winner for this week, Sean O’Brien, who gets to do the honors. Hi Sean, are you excited?”
The screen divides in two and someone, presumably Sean O’Brien, appears.
“I sure am Keith,” Sean replies. “I’ve been itching to do this since the game started.”
“Fantastic, so we’re going to patch you through to Head Crusher so you can have a quick chat. Head Crusher, you’re back on.”
“What the hell is the holdup?” Head Crusher yells.
“Head Crusher? Congratulations man, I can’t believe I get to do this!” Sean says.
“Who the hell are you? Look, I won your stupid game so let me out.”
On screen Sean laughs loudly.
“Man you are dumb!” he says wiping away a tear.
Head Crusher curses at him and kicks at piles of garbage.
“You’re DEAD! As soon as I’m out of here, I’m coming for you!” he screams, which only makes Sean laugh even harder.
“Don’t you get it, dumbass? Nobody gets out of the game alive! What would be the point in that? Who the hell wants you back in society?”
The last thing we see is Head Crusher looking confused before his head explodes into a red mist. Sean is looking pleased with himself.
Sean fades from the screen and is replaced by Keith, but then the screen turns black.
“Don’t really need to see the rest,” says Stilwell. “It’s just ads for next week.”
Things on the subway station calm down eventually and routine slowly takes over. People go back to what they were doing while others meander back along the tunnels to where they live.
Stilwell tells me why they were so eager to get us out of the Death Match alive. While they’ve gained access to many buildings, nobody has ever got into Jameson’s building. Or if they have, they haven’t made it out alive to tell.
What they need us for is intelligence. They’ve heard of our escape but don’t know how we managed it.
Over the next half hour we relay our story to the Fox Hunters. They hang in awe off our every word, hardly able to believe what we’ve been through.
We tell them everything we know about the FTW building and Jameson’s. Judging by the smiles on their faces we’ve given them some good ideas.
Once we’re done they let us be for the night. They leave with promises of returning in the morning to take us to the “Cave of Wonders”.
With that enigmatic promise hanging in the air they jump down to the tracks and wander off into the depths of the tunnel.
Stilwell give us blankets and somewhere quite to rest. Now we’ve stopped moving tiredness overwhelms me. My bones ache and small cuts and bruises about my body sting and throb.
I scratch at a cut on the back of my neck. It’s lumpy, and when I pull my hand away, there’s crusted blood under my fingernail.
It doesn’t take long before Kara falls asleep.
I come a close second.
21 - Bunker
I’m not sure for how long Kara and I are asleep, but when we’re woken, I’m sure it’s only been a few hours.
We’re joined by a group of three other Fox Hunters, not the ones we talked with last night, and Stilwell. He introduces them as Ax, Sly, and Jay-Bee.
They’ve brought along several heavy-duty canvas bags, presumably to help carry whatever it is we’re setting out for.
Jay-Bee gives us a brief rundown on where we’re headed and how far it is. Once he’s done we jump down onto the tracks and start our trek.
As we walk along the old subway tracks, Stilwell tells us the story of how they found the supply bunker, or as people like to refer to it, the “Cave of Wonders”.
“You’ve seen the old signs on the platforms, marking the tracks in different colors? The red line, green line, yellow line and the rest. Well, we’ve explored every inch of them, every one that was still available to us anyway. We found a few tunnels that spur off the main lines, secret ones, we’re guessing.
When we explored down those, in one of them we found a hidden platform. It must have been heavily fortified at one point, but we could just walk straight in. We had to hack our way through some solid steel doors, I’m talking like over a foot thick, but once we got in, we found on the other side a cavernous room stocked full of everything you can think of.
Guns, knives, grenades, tactical gear, combat training manuals, shelves and shelves of food. It went on forever, and not just one level. There’s five levels of the stuff. Enough for people to live off for decades.”
“So what is it we’re going to collect?” I ask.
“Whatever we need. Based on your intel and what’s happened over the last few days we’re launching our attack. You said you got rid of everything to do with the X-71, but we’re taking no chances. We need to end him. Permanently. We’re getting guns, bombs, ammo. Whatever we need to make it work.”
“You’re going to bomb the FTW building?” Kara asks.
“Yup, once we’ve confirmed both Jameson and Reed are inside we’re going to bring down the whole damn building.”
“But what about everyone else inside?” I ask.
“If they work for FTW, they’re just as guilty,” Jay-Bee says from behind me.
“What about where he lives? If your information is wrong, we’d be putting an even bigger target on our back. We should hit both buildings,” Kara says, but Stilwell shakes his head.
“Too risky. We’ll bring down the FTW building only when we’re sure Jameson and Reed are both inside. We’ll kill them once and for all that way.”
I bite my lower lip, turning over the plan in my mind.
“No, Kara’s right.”
“Explain,” says Stilwell.
“We’ve killed them before. I pushed Jameson from the top of the FTW building, and Reed... I’ve seen him die twice. Killing them isn’t enough.”
Kara is nodding. She’s figured it out as well.
“They’re clones, aren’t they?” Kara says to me.
“It’s the only explanation,” I reply. “We’ve seen the lab, they can clone an
yone.”
Stilwell massages the back of his neck.
“That’d explain a lot of things. Over the years we thought we’d killed him a few times, only for him to pop up again a few days later,” he says, chagrined.
“I don’t think we need to demolish both. If you can take out the FTW building while he’s in it, me and Kara can sneak in and take out the clone lab,” I say.
“Right, small change of plan then. There’s a few things in the bunker I think will be useful to your mission.”
As we continue our way to the supply bunker we go over the specifics of our plan. It’s risky, but it’ll be worth it.
The “Cave of Wonders” lives up to its name. It’s packed full of everything you can possibly imagine.
It takes us about an hour but eventually our packs are loaded with everything we need. Stilwell and the others carry mostly explosives, but in ours we’ve got a few extra things.
The most interesting things were what Stilwell called gecko gloves. He said they’ll help us climb any vertical surface, regardless of what it’s made of. The smoother the surface the better they work, apparently.
We exit the supply bunker and back onto the platform, carrying our canvas bags on our backs. The strap on my bag rubs against the cut on my neck and irritates it.
I reach back to scratch it and it’s warm under my fingers. It’s still lumpy so I ask Kara to check it out for me. Last thing I need is an infection.
“It looks like you’ve got something stuck in it,” she says as she prods it with a finger.
“Does it look bad?”
“Nah, it’s a really clean entry. Brace yourself and I’ll see if I can push it out.”
I grit my teeth as Kara pushes at the lump. It stings and throbs but the pain is short lived.
“Check it out,” Kara says, holding a small metallic lump in her palm.
There’s a small, glowing red light on one end of it. Stilwell leans in for a closer look.
“I don’t like the look of that,” he says.
“Why? What is it?” I ask.
“I really hope it’s not, but it looks like a tracking bug.”
Stilwell drops it at his feet then crushes it under his heel. Before I can ask if that’ll keep us safe, a boom echoes along the subway tunnel.
Everyone looks at each other, confusion crossing our faces. In a single motion we all run down the tunnel heading for the main line.
Every few seconds another boom rings out, and as we get closer to the spur, an aircar rushes past the mouth of the tunnel.
A small metallic brick drops from the back of it and sticks to one of the metal rails.
“They’ve found us!” Stilwell’s warning is followed by another boom.
We reach the spur in the tunnel and look into the darkness. Another boom rings out. Whatever’s exploding is getting closer.
“Check it out,” Jay-Bee says, grabbing the metal brick. “It’s locked onto the rail.”
He grunts and strains against the metal brick. It twists on its base and a voice says “Mine Deactivated”. The brick releases its grip on the rail and he falls backwards.
Another boom rings out and we can see what is happening. Spaced at roughly even distances on the track are more of the metal bricks.
When one down the tunnel explodes it spews out a blob of gray foam which then expands in a matter of seconds until it completely fills the tunnel.
“No time to stop them. We’ve got to run,” Stilwell says and we run back towards the supply bunker.
More explosions follow us but after they pass the mouth of the tunnel, they’re muffled. We wait for a few more to detonate before heading back down the tunnel to check out the damage.
Both directions are encased in the gray foam.
“Damn,” Kara says, prodding at the foam wall. “It’s solid as rock. We’re sealed in.”
“Not quite,” Stilwell replies “There’s an exit tunnel burrowed through the bunker. It joins up with another then leads to the surface.”
“What about the people back at the platform?” I ask.
“We can only pray they got out in time. There are tunnels to the surface dug out on each platform, so hopefully everyone got out.”
After we return to the supply bunker Stilwell shows us the tunnel’s entrance. It’s a tight squeeze with the packs we’re carrying, and slow going, but eventually we hit a fork.
Stilwell points to the left and we follow it until we drop onto a platform.
Dead bodies. Everywhere. People of all ages. Little kids, teenagers, adults all riddled with bullet holes. Countless impact marks on the tiled walls show the ferocity of the attack. They never stood a chance.
The gray foam filling the tunnels has expanded and spread onto the platform. On closer inspection there must be bodies trapped inside of it. A single arm reaches out to the platform from within its solid mass.
We fan out and check the bodies, but find no one left alive.
Stilwell falls to his knees, sobbing.
“What do we do?” he asks.
“Same as we planned,” I reply and pull him to his feet. “I know it’s hard, but now isn’t the time to mourn them. After we destroy Jameson and FTW, once we’re safe, once everyone is safe, then we mourn.”
He sniffs and wipes his nose across his sleeve.
“So the tunnel to the surface,” I ask to take Stilwell’s mind off his dead friends, “where exactly does it come out?”
Stilwell takes a deep breath before answering.
“We’re lucky, actually. It opens into a basement of a building about halfway between FTW headquarters and Jameson’s building.”
“Let’s get moving then,” I say.
Jay-Bee is still holding the metal brick he pulled from the tracks. He’s about to throw it to one side when I stop him.
“You mind if we take that? It could come in useful.”
“Can’t see why not,” he says, tossing it to me.
I pull open the pack and drop in the brick, then sling the straps back over my shoulder. The weight of the pack isn’t too bad and shouldn’t slow me down.
Stilwell and the others have most of the explosives we took from the bunker. The FTW building is huge so the more they can pack in the faster it’ll drop.
With silent nods to each other we head up the tunnel leading to the surface, emerging in the dim basement of a building.
22 - Climb
Kara and I make our way out of the building’s basement and emerge into darkness.
The roads on the surface are as deserted as last time I walked them. There’s a slight chill in the air, like we’re getting close to morning.
Stilwell tells us how to locate Jameson’s building, and we quietly wish each other the best of luck and run off in search of our targets.
His team will place explosives in the central stairwell of the FTW building. Between the four of them they estimate once they’re inside they’ll have their part done in ten minutes.
My hope is that early morning will mean fewer casualties. Jay-Bee said people working for FTW are guilty by association but it doesn’t sit well with me.
Stilwell said the information they had confirmed Jameson and Reed are always in the building before sunrise. I guess it’s the best option, though I’d prefer not to have others die because of what Jameson and Reed and done.
We should reach our building before Stilwell’s team reaches theirs. That will give us time to get ready. Once we get there we’re to wait for the explosion before making our way to the clone lab.
In the event something goes wrong we don’t want to be trapped at the top of the building.
Once Stilwell’s team collapses the FTW building, there’ll be no turning back. That’s when our part will kick off to ensure Jameson and Reed aren’t resurrected again.
As we approach Jameson’s building my heart sinks. Stilwell failed to mention there’s no building access from ground level.
The first three levels are solid concret
e. From the fourth the outside turns into glass windows all the way to the top.
We check out the surrounding buildings but they all look the same. The closest one with access is three buildings away.
“Even if we enter through that one, we’d have to make our way inside and across three buildings undetected. It’s risky enough just entering one,” I say to Kara.
“We’ll have to climb. Get the gloves from the bag,” she replies, and I shrug it off my shoulders and onto the ground.
I push aside the other things in the bag and retrieve two pairs of gloves. We pull them on and tighten the straps around our wrists and we’re ready. Cautiously I place one hand against the smooth concrete exterior of the building.
I tug back with my hand and it doesn’t budge, so the glove’s grip is solid.
With a deep breath I place my other hand higher and pull myself up. It’s a weird feeling. Every instinct I have says I should be sliding down to the ground but yet I stay stuck firmly to the side.
I hesitate for a second before rolling my first hand forward to release the glove’s grip. As soon as it’s free, I shoot my arm straight up and the glove gets a new grip on the higher point.
Pulling myself higher I look down at Kara below me.
“I think they’re safe,” I say to her.
She nods and places a gloved hand against the wall and climbs up after me.
After what feels like an eternity we make it to the first level of glass. I peer through into the depths of the building and find the room on the other side is vacant.
“I’ll need to support myself on you for a second,” I say to Kara.
She moves herself into position below my feet and I rest my legs on her shoulders. As slowly as I can I remove one hand from the glass and maneuver my pack to where I can reach.
I pull out a gun and aim the butt towards the window.
“Here goes nothing,” I say and squeeze my eyes shut.
With as much strength as I have I slam the butt of the gun into the glass window. It hits with a crunch but doesn’t shatter. I peek at the window through one eye. There’s a small crack, but it’s nowhere near smashed.
Boneyards & Badlands: The Complete FTW Series Page 11
