by Maxey, Phil
Joel nodded.
“Then, whenever you’re ready.”
Joel looked at Bill and Evan, and everyone else studying him, then looked down at the tablet.
He wrapped his fingers on his left hand around the left side of the tablet. Instantly, the symbols started to morph. He studied them closely. He realized that most were changing, pausing in a particular state, then changing once again.
“Good, good. Now, as we discussed, think about what you are and the vamps, and touch the memory glyph with your other hand…”
As soon as the skin on his index finger touched the tablet, the rubber-band effect of the world around him played out as before, but this time he snapped back into an ocean of sand and heat.
The sun was setting, turning the dunes to a deep orange. A noise made him whip around to an even grander view.
A city of biblical proportions sat beneath him, for he was standing on a ridge of a huge dune which dissolved down to flat desert. Just beyond were towering walls which encircled a city.
From his position he could see narrow streets full of people, and multi-story homes, seemingly built from the desert itself. As the sky grew darker, small spots of light started to appear as torches were lit.
At the center of the complex of buildings sat a palace, the walls scaled even higher than the height he was at.
Instinctively, he took a step forward to move down the slope when a rush of putrid air wafted past him.
Curious he turned around. “What the hell?”
His view of the desert, which moments before stretched for miles to the horizon, had been replaced by a wall of hazy, yellowy-gray cloud.
Sandstorm?
Shadowy forms started to appear in the turmoil of granules of sand and wind, forms which he recognized.
“Vamps…”
A part of him wanted to run, to turn, or fall down the steep slope to the gates below and bang on them until someone answered. He could warn them of the nightmare that was about to envelop them from the desert.
But he also knew this was a virtual reenactment of something which must have happened far in the past. So instead, he stood his ground.
The first vamps, creatures which looked only vaguely human swept past him. All a mass of blurs which hurtled down the slope.
Horns started to explode from the city into the night air, and the people that were happy, were now panicking, running for the supposed safety of wooden doors.
Wave after wave of vamps passed him, until the space between the dunes and the city was a sea of them. Arrows and spears started to rain down from the tops of the walls, but were ineffectual against the attacking pestilence.
Screams and the clash of swords and spears came from beyond the walls, as dark shadows descended from the darkening skies, swooping down and picking off the poor citizens desperate to stay alive.
As he watched those fighting to keep death from overwhelming the city, the ground below him started to shudder. Spinning back to the wilderness, he staggered back as a group of leathery leviathans, most standing fifteen feet high, with a hide of spikes and angular heads emerged from the swirl.
Seated on each of them, proud in their armor, were more vamps, but these looked more human than monster. They looked like him.
At the feet of the creatures they rode, were a type of vamp he had never seen before. Their heads were elongated and doglike, and even though they stood on two feet, their upper bodies looked too heavy for their legs. Each of them was chained with metal clasps around their necks, and they snarled at their keepers and the battle in front of them.
Joel noticed one of the vamp rulers, the one seated in the center, was covered in more ornate armor than the others. He carried a spear of some sort, and even from the distance Joel was, he could see he was smiling.
The scene instantly changed, as if he had switched channels. Gone were the legions of vamps, and gone was the night, for now it was daytime again, and the sun was so bright he had to shield his eyes.
He looked back at the city.
What was once a sight to behold, was now a collection of broken walls and upturned streets. Only the palace looked relatively undamaged. Birds squawked above his head as they picked amongst the dead.
He thought about leaving this memory of the past, but instead he ran forward down the slope, mostly keeping his feet until he got to the flat hard sunbaked ground. He kept on going, weaving around dead vamps, through the ruins that were once the impressive wooden gates, up the central passage which was banked by one- and two-story buildings which used to be a story taller.
The smell of decay consumed the air around him, but he pushed on, through the city’s squares and further, until he arrived at an iron door to the palace. It was open a few feet, and around it laid human, armored guards and a multitude of dead vamps.
He moved through the gap into a shadow-infested room, full of broken furniture and redwood-sized pillars which supported the floors above. More bodies lay scattered across ornate rugs, dressed in fine linens.
He noticed a grand staircase, which he quickly ascended, moving from one grand balcony to another, until he came to the topmost floor of the building. That was when he saw the hybrid vamps in a sea of blood.
Human bodies lay in a heap, and a lake of blood ran from it to a large stone and iron throne. On top of that sat the same hybrid that stood out before. He stared forward, motionless.
Most of the others stood and sat around him, laughing and talking, although Joel couldn’t make sense of the language. Their armor was covered in the blood of whoever ruled there before.
Joel walked forward, studying each human-looking warrior in turn. Suddenly, a noise made him, and the others, turn to face the way he had just come. Another hybrid ran up the stairs and towards him. His eyes were fierce, and, ignoring the others, he walked directly to the one on the throne and launched into a tirade of unknown words.
Without warning, the others unsheathed their swords and spears and pointed them towards the newcomer. The would-be ruler raised his hands. They lowered their weapons.
He then leaned forward and spoke.
Joel walked even closer to observe the angry hybrid’s reaction. His face was one of shock, but quickly turned to defiance. He turned, brushing the swords and spears out of his path as he walked away.
Joel looked back to the figure on the throne. A smirk grew across his face.
The scene around Joel stretched and then snapped back. He waited to see the expectant faces of the scientists, but instead he saw destruction.
The shock of what was in front of him froze him to the seat for a few seconds. The partitions were mostly broken into pieces, laying across equally ruined desks.
Light came from lights on the ground and smashed computer monitors.
A sharp fizzing spark from one of the machines next to him woke him from his disbelief, and he quickly pulled the wires from his body and pulled the helmet off.
“Hello?”
His words echoed around the huge cavern without any reply.
“Is there anyone here!”
Standing, he walked forward and almost fell over cables and broken pieces of machinery which lay discarded across the floor. There was no sign of anyone, not even their blood.
He sniffed the air to make sure, but only the smell of burnt wires and dust filled his nostrils.
He shook his head. “Has to be a dream,” he whispered to himself.
He swung around to look back at the chair. It was still there but the tablet had gone. The robotic arm which once held it laid helpless and mangled on the floor.
This makes no sense. What the hell happened here.
He saw a dull glow coming from one of the still-functioning computer monitors and walked to it, picking it up and resting it so it was level again. The screen glitched, showing a display of numbers. It was an analysis of some kind. It also had a date. The twenty-first.
He looked down at the watch on his wrist. It also said the twenty-first. He w
as sure that was wrong.
A noise came from the back of the large room. Something was back there, moving amongst the shadows, but he couldn’t make out exactly what.
He walked forward, stepping over rubble and wires. “Is there someone back there? Are you hurt?”
A loud growl came from behind. He whipped around.
The scene once again stretched into the distance and rebounded back. He was seated in the chair. Multiple anxious faces were looking at him.
“Well? Did you see anything?” said Max.
Joel looked at his watch. It displayed the eighteenth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It took a full hour before the scientists left Joel alone. They asked him to go back into the virtual world and try and interact with it, but he said he needed to rest.
That was a lie. He also withheld what he had seen after the vision of the ancient battle.
He, Bill, and Evan were escorted back to their dormitory by a soldier and Rachel.
“You did good work today. I’m sure Josh and the others will be up all night discussing… well arguing about what you saw.” She briefly touched his shoulder. “Get some rest. We start early tomorrow.” She went to walk away, then stopped. “You and your friends are getting the blood supplies they need?”
Joel nodded.
“Good, see you tomorrow then.”
Joel gave a quick smile and nodded. They then walked into the long room. It was empty.
Joel peered around the open door to the corridor outside and watched Rachel and the soldier disappear around the corner of the far junction. He then stepped back inside and pulled the door closed.
Bill and Evan looked on, not understanding his actions.
“What’s going on?” said Bill.
“Take a seat, we need to talk.”
Bill sat. “Okay…” Evan did the same, placing his computer on the bed next to him.
“I saw something, I don’t un—”
The door opened. It was Marina. “I thought I heard you come back. What happened?”
“Is there anyone else with you?”
“No.”
“Good. Come in and close the door.”
Soon, he had three attentive listeners.
“So, after I saw the ancient battle—”
“You saw an ancient battle?” said Marina.
“Yeah, but that’s not what this is about. So after I saw all of that. I returned to the Dome room. At least I thought I had.”
Bill scrunched his face. “You thought you had? You did return.”
“You don’t understand—”
“Clearly not…”
“I returned to the Dome room, but it was different. Everything was destroyed, and there was no one there. Just me.”
Evan looked at Bill, looking just as confused.
“Are you sure of what you saw? Perhaps you hallucinated? We still don’t know what affect the tablet—”
“It was no hallucination. I got out of the chair. I walked around. And… there was a date on one of the screens that was still working. The twenty-first.”
“Of this month?”
“Yes.”
“That’s three days from now,” said Evan.
Marina stood. “Wait. What you’re saying makes no sense. The tablet shows you what happened in the past, it’s like a super-advanced memory stick, just gives you a show.”
“Yeah…”
“How can it show you something that hasn’t happened yet?”
She looked at Bill, who was lost in thought.
“Maybe it can show you the future?” said Evan.
Bill shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. But I do think it was a warning. Perhaps the tablet is aware of things we are not. It’s showing you a possible future.”
Marina let out a breath. “Well, that’s just great! We finally find a place the vamps can’t get to us, and now you tell me it’s going to be all gone in three days…” She sat down heavily on a bed.
Joel wanted to reply. Give her hope, but he couldn’t grasp any words long enough to do so.
“Do they know? Did you tell—” said Bill.
Joel shook his head.
Evan looked at him. “Let’s say the tablet somehow knows things we don’t, and what you saw will come about in three days. Maybe we can stop it? Did you get any idea what caused it?”
“I… just the whole place was trashed… and… there were things there as well, but I just saw shadows moving, and heard growls.”
“Growls?” said Marina.
“Yeah.”
“Then it was vamps… but how could vamps get into this place? It was built to withstand a nuclear attack!”
Bill nodded. “Agreed. Vamps outside couldn’t get in here.”
“Unless someone lets them in…” said Evan.
“That’s very unlikely,” said Marina.
Joel nodded. “I agree. Whatever happens is going to be caused by something already down here with us. Maybe it’s something that McClure does, or maybe it’s the tablet…”
“It could be any one of a hundred different things that lead to that outcome. But if the tablet is showing it to you, then it must be likely to happen,” said Bill.
Marina looked at them in turn. “Then what do we do?”
“Shouldn’t we tell them?” said Evan.
Joel shook his head. “And if we do. Then what? The last group of people who they invite in, who also happen to be hybrids and have some magical ancient tablet, and then we tell them, ‘Hey, guess what? This entire place is going to be gone. Dead within a few days.’ The best case scenario is they lock all of us up to keep an eye on us, or they throw most of you back outside while they do experiments on us hybrids.”
Evan looked down. “Right…”
Joel looked at them all. “No. We keep this to ourselves. But we have to decide. Are we going to stay to try to stop whatever happens. Or do we escape?”
“How can we stop it when we don’t even know what ‘it’ is going to be?” said Marina.
Silence descended upon those in the room as each thought through the possibilities.
Bill sighed. “I think we have to leave.”
“Great idea. How do you suppose we do that?” said Marina.
Evan flipped his laptop open and started to do a search in his database for the military complex they were inside. He shook his head. “There’s hardly anything on this place. It was too top secret.”
Marina took her ID card from her pocket. “These cards, could we hack them somehow so we go further with them?”
Evan smiled, taking his own card from his pocket. “Yeah, maybe. There’s a chip embedded in them…” He looked around the room. “I need to be able to connect from the ID chip to my laptop, then we’re in business. If I had an old radio or something similar, I could take the parts I need from that.”
Joel stood. “I’ll work on getting you what you need. Meanwhile, try and learn what you can about this place from anyone you come across.” He looked at the low ceiling. “We’re a good ways below the ground. I can’t feel the sun at all. Not even a bit.”
“What do we tell the others?” said Marina.
Bill, Evan, and Joel exchanged looks.
“We are going to tell the others, right?” she continued.
“I don’t trust Hardin,” said Bill.
“Okay, so not Hardin. But what about Anna, Mary? Shannon? And Lee?”
“Shannon needs to come with us,” said Evan.
“For now, don’t tell anyone. Not until we’re further along with how to get out of here,” said Joel.
The others nodded in agreement.
*****
Joel lifted his heavy head and swung his feet around to the cold floor. He looked at the date on his watch.
Nineteenth.
Sleep came quick for him seven hours before, despite his brain wanting to make plans.
A single light above the entrance lit the entire room, and he looked over the other beds. M
ost were sleeping, but he noticed Shannon was missing from hers.
He threw his shirt on and made his way quietly out of the room and into the corridor. In the gloom, he could hear a heartbeat coming from the second door on his left. Opening it revealed a good-sized room with a series of tables and chairs in the center and a kitchen area along the far wall. To the other sides were cupboards and a large fridge which he already knew contained, amongst other things, blood bags.
Shannon was seated at one of the tables, reading.
“Can’t sleep?” he said, passing and going to the fridge.
“Needed to get out of that room.”
Joel got a blood bag out of the fridge. “You miss being up top?”
“Don’t matter what I think.” She turned a page.
He opened the valve on the bag and started to draw the blood out. The sleepiness started to fade from his mind. “There’s something you—”
The door to the mess hall opened and Anna walked in. Dark rings sat beneath her eyes.
“There’s plenty of blood in the fridge,” said Joel.
She nodded. “I know. I’m just getting some water.”
Joel scrunched his face. “How long has it been since you had some blood?”
“Don’t worry about it…”
Joel noticed Anna studying Shannon’s neck as she walked behind her to the sink. He got to his feet and pushed the blood bag into her hands. “Drink, before someone gets hurt.”
“I’m trying to see how long I can go…” she whispered, while looking down at the succulent red liquid contained within the plastic.
He leaned closer to her. “This is not the time to be messing about with that kind of thing.”
Her gaunt face expressed confusion. “This is the perfect time to do the experiment. Lee’s helping me keep track. I can assure you, I’m no threat to anyone.”
“You need to be at full strength.”
Joel looked back at the young girl at the table. She had turned around in her seat and was looking squarely at him.
“Something’s going on, I can tell. What is it?” she said.
Joel looked at both of them, then leaned back on the counter.
“Take a seat,” he said to Anna, who did. He sat on the table nearby and recanted his virtual experience and the tablet’s final warning.
