Nano Z (Book 3): Oblivion

by Brad Knight

  None of the creatures had arms. Instead they had a limbless torso covered by what looked like cuirasses made of putrid dead flesh. Chains lined with razor wire hung from hooks in the abominations' backs.

  The strangest part of the armless meat puppets were their legs. From their shape they didn't resemble anything human. Fully formed from stainless steel, the legs were shaped kind of like a cheetah's. Looking at them it was clear that the monstrosities were made to run.

  Mack didn't know how fast the armless monsters were, but he knew that they were probably faster than himself. Trying to outrun them wasn't really an option in his mind. So what could they do?

  We're going to have to fight if we're going to get out of this alive. Or at least I'm going to. He stopped Amber and Stephanie. He looked them both in their eyes.

  “Keep out of sight and keep moving. I'll try and slow these things down and buy you two some time. Move, now!” Mack didn't give them time to argue with him. As soon as he stopped talking, he headed straight for the armless meat puppets and their keepers.

  Armed with a trench shovel, knife and pistol bearing five rounds, he knew he'd have to approach the situation tactically. There were more of them so he had to utilize his one and only advantage; his healing ability. Unlike his foes, he could take a beating and keep on ticking.

  As Mack tried to figure out how he was going to approach the group, his enemies took the initiative. With a screech, each of the armless puppets sprinted towards Amber and Stephanie, completely ignoring or not noticing the big Viking.

  Oh no you fucking don't! Mack had to get the armless brutes attention. All he had to work with was his pistol.

  Without an alternative, he opened fire. He hit one in the head, taking it out. His bullets did their job and got the creatures' attentions. Unfortunately the Galatea Security members also noticed.

  Before he knew what happened, two Galatea bullets ripped through Mack's shoulder and chest. He could hear the other projectiles whiz by his head. It hurt, but there was no time to dwell on his injuries. There was a fight coming, fast and swift.

  The first armless meat puppet to reach Mack rammed into him head first. It happened so quickly that he couldn't dodge it or intercept the attack with a swing of his trench shovel. Caught completely off guard, it felt like a baseball bat to his chest. All the air was knocked out of his lungs.

  Mack just managed to see and dodge the jaws of the second armless meat puppet. But he couldn't avoid the razor wire lined chains as the same puppet quickly turned. The blades mostly just ripped his jacket, but he still received a couple of small cuts.

  The second pass at Mack wasn't as successful for them. After ramming him the first time, one of the meat puppets received a blow to its head from a sharp edged trench shovel. It wasn't a fatal blow but did manage to stagger the creature.

  That's not good. Mack was in disbelief after he tried to stab the second armless monster in its gaping mouth with his trench as it rushed him. The creature bit down right away and snapped the tool in half. It proceeded to spit out the other end.

  Mack reached for his knife. One of the meat puppets pounced on him, metal feet first. Mack fell down to the mud and fallen pine needles.

  Immediately after dodging an attempt to bite his throat, he managed to grab his knife. When the creature on top of him tried to bite him again, he stabbed it in the side of its head. It was enough to take out his second attacker.

  Sharp crushing pain screamed up through Mack's body from his leg. The remaining armless monster had a hold of his ankle. There was no doubt in his mind that it was broken. That pain only got worse as the creature lifted him up by one leg then began to drag him.

  The agony that he felt was unbelievable. He almost passed out. Suddenly he was released. When he looked up he saw the barrels of assault rifles pointed straight at him.

  “This the guy?” asked one of the Galatea Security members.

  “Mr. Sebastian said that he was a big burly fucker. This guy is built like a brick shit house. So yeah, I think its safe to assume that its him,” responded one of the other men.

  Another security member, who must've been the leader of the little group, spoke up. “Well, pick him up. Let's get the big bastard to Isaac. I'm sure there's a hefty reward waiting for us.” The other three picked Mack up off the ground. As they dragged him away, he felt his ankle slowly piecing itself back together.

  Despite being detained and carried against his will through the conifer forests, Mack was happy. Stephanie and Amber weren’t anywhere in sight. They got away. In the end that was all that mattered.

  Twenty minutes passed, and Mack's ankle was fully healed. He pretended it was still broken, faking winces and groans, while all the while he planned his escape. All the options involved savage brutality and violence.

  Sounds of gunfire and yells got louder the farther he was dragged. His plans of beating the Galatea Security members to death, probably with their own weapons, were put on hold. They were taking him to Haven.

  The density of pine and spruce trees started to thin out. Through them, Mack could see more Galatea men engaged in a firefight. With whom? There was what looked like a huge slightly rusted freighter that towered over docks made of rotted wood. From portholes and the bridge, people fired back.

  Well, here we are. “Haven” was scribed in large white letters on the side of the freighter. Mack had made it. Finding what he, Amber and Stephanie looked for over the past couple of weeks should have been a good feeling. But his two ladies were nowhere to be found and the sanctuary they were after looked like more of the same shit they've dealt with since the outbreak.

  If Stephanie was here I'd tell her, “I told you so”. Mack continued to be pulled along the ground until he reached a bald man with his back turned to the captive. This must be the boss man.

  “We got em, Mr. Grey,” said one of Mack's captors right before throwing him down into the mud.

  The bald man turned around. Mack knew he'd seen him before. It took a few seconds before he realized where he saw him last. It was a couple of months earlier, and the man had a mohawk or something ridiculous like that.

  Mr. Grey turned around. It was Isaac, one of the late Ted Gorman's cronies. Mack was genuinely surprised to see him. He thought for sure he died outside the bait shop back in Oregon. That surprise turned to concern. Isaac was clearly a survivor. And survivors are typically the most dangerous type of person to run into.

  “I seem to remember Mr. Sebastian's orders were to bring him three people. It was for a big guy, and teenage girl, and a woman. I only see a big guy. So where are the other two?” asked Isaac through teeth clenched down on a cheap cigar. He didn't even flinch in spite of the bullets flying by.

  “They ran, Mr. Grey, sir,” one of Mack's captors was dumb enough to actually answer the question.

  Isaac had a sarcastic surprised look on his face. “They ran huh? Did you, I don't know, think to chase them?”

  One of Mack's captives, the dumb one, kicked him in the ribs. “This one killed our raptors. It took all four of us to take him down.”

  “Four of you? For one guy? Really? Well, that's just sad.” Isaac took out his pistol.

  The dumb captor took several steps back.

  “Relax man, I'm not Mr. Gorman. I'm not a psycho.” Isaac raised his gun and pointed it at the dumb guy's head. “I'm a marine.” He pulled the trigger. It wasn't loaded. Mack's captors looked like they just soiled their pants. “I don't like failure. Now I would've shot you but we need all the men we can get. These bastards are dug in like fucking ticks.”

  “Yes sir. Sorry sir. Where do you need us?” asked one of the men.

  “Leave him here and go join the others on the docks. If you don't die, I'll forgive you and we'll forget this happened. What do ya say?” Isaac loaded his 1911 Colt.

  “Yes sir, right away.” Mack's captors ran for the docks even though there was nothing but a storm of bullets waiting for them. They figured it was better to risk the poss
ibility of death rather than refuse and court certain death.

  Isaac looked down at Mack and smiled. “Remember me?”

  Mack nodded as he tried to figure out how to disarm Issac and take his pistol. He knew that his size wouldn't give him any kind of leg up on a former marine. Then again, he had other abilities that might allowed him to prevail. Whether he tried to get away or not, there was a lot of pain on the way. That much was unavoidable. In the end his choice would determine just how much suffering he'd endure.

  “Last we met was back during that shit show in Oregon. That was something wasn't it. Anyway...” Isaac noticed the look in Mack's eyes. He'd seen it before in prisoners when he was working a POW camp in Iraq. He raised his arm, resulting in the barrel of his pistol pointing straight at Mack's forehead. “Settle down, buddy.”

  “Why? So it will be easier for you to kill me?” Both of Mack's eyes focused on the dark of the barrel.

  Isaac laughed. Mack feared that he was dealing with another nut job. “Kill you? Nah, I'm not going to kill you.” The bald ex-marine lowered his gun. “My boss, he tasked me with finding you and bringing you to the Seattle site. He wants to extend you a job offer.”

  Is this guy serious? “A job?”

  “As a reward. For killing Ted Gorman. That guy was well… out of his damn mind. Mr. Sebastian needed him out of the way so that Galatea could move on, evolve. You see, his ideas about world domination were a bit far fetched. Instead of destroying the world, we want to rebuild it, better.”

  “Is that why you're attacking those people?” Mack nodded his head towards the freighter called “Haven”.

  “Those people are a problem. They preach sanctuary but really they're nothing but...” Before Isaac could finish his sentence a bullet exploded through his side, just below his ribs. He cursed up a storm and almost fell.

  That's my girl. Mack heard Amber's voice. He saw her skinny little arms motioning him to join her and Stephanie behind some ferns about forty yards away.

  Not wanting to leave without telling Isaac how much he appreciated letting him live, Mack punched Isaac with all the strength he could muster. He knocked the ex-marine onto his ass. It wasn't that impressive of a feat considering the man had just been shot. Still, it was very satisfying.

  Mack somehow managed not to get shot as he ran towards the ferns to regroup with his two friends. They were just as glad to see him as he was to see them. But there was no time for talk or reunions. Haven wasn't going to wait for them.

  Amber, Stephanie and Mack had less time to reach their destination than they originally thought. After a loud blast from its horn, the freighter's engines started up. The rather scrappy crew members who fought it out with the Galatea men on the docks retreated. They climbed up rope ladders rolled down from the hull.

  “We gotta get to those ladders before they start moving,” said Mack.

  “What? Through all those Galatea douche bags?” Amber's mouth hadn't gotten any cleaner since she first met him.

  “Don't worry. They won't touch us.”

  “Why's that exactly?” asked Stephanie, simultaneously confused and concerned.

  “I'll tell you about it later. Just trust me.” Mack took Amber in one hand and Stephanie in the other. The three of them sprinted out from behind the ferns and made for the docks.

  “Don't shoot them! Boss man...” Isaac coughed and held his recently acquired bullet wound. “Boss man wants them alive!”

  Some of the Galatea men tried to subdue them. They either got a bullet, a fist, or a shoulder for their trouble. None of them managed to take the trio down.

  Haven started to move. Its progress was slow, but a ship that big didn't take long to build up some momentum. If they didn't hurry their window of opportunity would slip away. If that happened they would have a bright future working for the company that almost destroyed humanity and tried to kill them.

  Mack almost reached the end of the dock, with Amber and Stephanie close behind. Haven's ladders were out of reach. Those ladders were quickly being retracted by crew members. If they were going to get on the freighter, they'd have to take a leap of faith. Literally, it was the only way they'd reach them.

  Stephanie went first on accord of her leg injury which she suffered at the hands of Ted back in Oregon. It wasn't too serious but prevented her from getting much of a running start before jumping. She banged her knee against the hull of the freighter but managed to grab the rope ladder.

  Amber was up next. She had to wait for Stephanie to climb high enough to give her room. Once that happened, the teen easily made the leap.

  Mack looked back at the shore. Isaac stared a hole in him. After smiling, the big guy ran to the end of the docks and jumped.

  Chapter 3

  : Ark

  New Hope Island started to fade away into the distance. Mack couldn't help but wonder if he made a mistake leaving, especially since he left being at gunpoint on land with being at gunpoint on a really big boat.

  “Who are you? What do you want? And what the hell are you doing on our freighter?” asked a middle aged woman with an Australian accent who pointed a large caliber revolver at him.

  As soon as they reached the deck of Haven, they were met with a fair bit of hostility. It was understandable considering the circumstances. Not only did the crew just get done fighting with the Galatea henchmen, but then three strangers climbed onto their freighter. Chances were the new passengers weren't there for friendly reasons. Certain precautions had to be taken.

  None of the trio said a word.

  “Not going to talk huh?” The middle aged woman grinned. She glanced around at her rather raggedy crew. They looked as if they hadn't bathed in weeks. Their ship wasn't in any better shape. Every surface was covered in camouflage like patterns of rust.

  This is Haven? What a dump.

  “Maybe if we toss one of you overboard your mouths will loosen up. Josiah.” The middle aged woman motioned for the tall man with dreadlocks behind her.

  Mack spoke up. “We're here looking for Haven, that's all.”

  “Haven huh?”

  “That's right,” said Amber. “Or did you leave those little pieces of map for people to follow just so you can turn them away. Because if you did, that would be a dick move.” It was only a matter of time till she lost her temper. She was a teenager after all. They were especially susceptible to such outbursts.

  “Why wouldn't they shoot you?” asked the middle aged woman, after completely ignoring the teen girl.

  “I'm not sure, seeing as I killed their boss,” said Mack.

  The woman gave a look of disbelief. It wasn't the kind that one might give if they saw something unbelievable. It was the kind that you give someone who told an obvious lie and tried to pass it off as the truth.

  “You killed Ted Gorman?” asked the middle aged woman with one eyebrow raised. “That's…frankly that's a little hard to believe.”

  “What do you want? Proof? You wanna know how I did it?”

  “If what you say is true, why wouldn't they want to kill you?”

  “The man was a crazy person. They were happy to be rid of him. Hell, I did them a favor.” Mack's eyes never stopped staring into the woman's peepers. Every word he spoke was with confidence.

  “You really killed him, didn't you.” The woman lowered her gun.

  “I really did.” Mack and the woman stared at each other for almost a minute. Both were trying to read the other's face.

  Finally, the middle aged woman laughed. “Lower you guns.” All the men and women on the deck did exactly as she ordered. “In that case, welcome to Haven. Let's get you three something to eat.”

  Be wary, Mack. Who knows what these people want? All three followed the woman towards a thick steel door.

  “I'm Jeanine Castle. I was elected to lead the crew here.”

  “Mack.” He pointed at his own chest. Then he pointed behind him. “Stephanie and Amber.”

  Jeanine stopped to look back at them. She sh
ook all of their hands. “Pleasure to meet you. Sorry about the whole pointing guns at you thing. We have to be careful these days. I'm sure you understand.”

  More than you can possibly know.

  “Anyway.” Jeanine grabbed the hatch to the steel door and opened it. There was a slight groan as the slightly rusted hinges pivoted. “If you followed those maps than I'm sure that you guys have a lot of questions. I'm guessing first on your list is that you want to know what Haven is. Follow me, I'll show you.”

  They traversed some narrow hallways and precarious metal staircases before reaching the bowels of Haven. There they found a miniature city. It was both impressive and surreal.

  What struck the trio first was the smell and sounds of what lay ahead. It smelled like cooking food, cigarettes and body odor. The aroma wasn't terrible, but it was strong. They heard what almost sounded like a busy market full of voices.

  Packed tightly together were little tents and shacks built around and into the ship. Men and women mingled, some worked, other walked around the narrow paths that cut through the makeshift homes. Children could be heard playing and running around. There were even dogs and cats wandering freely, like they belonged to everyone. It was a hot, humid and crowded shanty town on the water. Surprisingly, it felt inviting.

  “These are the living quarters. I know there isn't much room, but it seems to work. We haven't had any problems so far. Everyone here is civil and doing their best under difficult circumstances. You'll notice that is an ongoing theme here at Haven.

  “Everyone here works in some way shape or form. They either help keep the engines running, work in the kitchens, work security or help clean up the ship. It's our belief here that idle hands are indeed the devil's playthings.” Jeanine led them off the elevated walkway over the living quarters and into more claustrophobic hallways.