Zenith Rising

by Gavin Zanker

  ‘You okay?’ Aiden asked, stepping up beside him, his weapon and flashlight levelled towards the fog.

  Patrick nodded. ‘Dion’s hurt,’ were the only words that he could force out through his terror.

  ‘About damn time,’ Dion said, his voice almost breaking from a mix of anger and fear. ‘Help me up and get us out of here!’

  Patrick made to help him, but Aiden put out his arm and stopped him. Out of the fog, multiple sleek figures stalked towards them; Aiden’s flashlight glinted from at least five sets of yellow eyes. Patrick felt warm liquid spill down his legs.

  ‘Help me!’ Dion whispered, eyes wide.

  Aiden fired a bullet over the wild animals’ heads. They didn’t flinch. They just kept prowling forward until they surrounded the wounded Syndicate man. Meeting Dion’s terrified gaze, Aiden’s expression turned as hard as granite.

  ‘No, no, no!’ Dion cried. ‘Don’t leave me, you bastards! Don’t you do it!’

  Patrick reached down and picked up his fallen rifle with numb fingers. He started to raise it, but Aiden clamped a hand on his shoulder and slowly guided him backwards.

  The wolves closed in on Dion.

  Patrick had to look away and squeeze his eyes shut as the sounds of screaming and wet crunching of bone filled the air. Then he was moving, being pulled along by Aiden. The trees flashed past in a blur. Just when he thought his lungs were going to explode, they finally came to a halt and he fell against one of the many trees where he dropped his rifle again.

  ‘We left him,’ he said between breaths, his stomach lurching.

  ‘We had no choice,’ Aiden said. ‘Besides, he would’ve left you in a heartbeat.’

  ‘But… we just left him.’ The enormity of his cowardice came crashing down on him. ‘We have to go back.’

  ‘He’s dead already, Patrick. Just like we would be if he’d had his way back on the Hermes. You remember that? When he locked us in there to die? At least this way he doesn’t get another chance.’

  Patrick’s lips moved but no words came out. He wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. Dion had shown him nothing but contempt, it probably was him that had tried to kill them both. But then if Patrick hadn’t fallen in the first place… Aiden’s words bumped up against his guilt. He felt heat rise in his stomach and vomited against the tree.

  Aiden patted him on the back. ‘It’s just shock. Take a minute to get yourself together then we’ll head back to the others. They’re not far from here.’

  Patrick tried to nod between bouts of retching, his eyes watering as the stomach acid burned his throat and the sickening sound of crunching bones still filled his ears.

  CHAPTER 32

  ‘I SEE YOU FOUND the kid,’ Woody said as Aiden walked into the temporary camp. Patrick trailed behind, his face as white as sun-bleached bones. ‘I don’t see Dion though.’

  ‘He didn’t make it,’ Aiden said. ‘Best outcome for everyone. He would’ve put us all in danger.’

  A short distance away, Patrick unshouldered his pack and slumped down onto it. ‘The lad looks like he’s seen a two-token hooker in daylight.’

  ‘I think he’ll be all right, but we should keep an eye on him.’

  ‘And how about you?’ Woody asked, nodding slowly as he watched Aiden reload one of his magazines.

  ‘Wolves,’ Aiden said by way of explanation. He guessed Woody was trying to figure out if he had killed Dion, but he didn’t much care. However it had happened, it was now one less problem to deal with. ‘And I’ll be better when we start moving again.’

  ‘Let’s make a start then.’ Woody pulled a foil strip from his pocket and moved around the group, popping out a round, black tablet for each person. ‘Radiation pills,’ he explained. ‘Everyone takes one. Where we’re walking, we’re going to need them.’

  Aiden choked the bitter thing down with some water from his canteen. ‘What’s in these things?’

  ‘Hell if I know. Believe me, you don’t want to know the side effects.’

  ‘Fantastic. So you know where we’re going?’ Aiden asked, feeling instantly nauseous.

  Woody squinted ahead through the sparse trees and fog. ‘I know a route south that avoids some dangerous areas, but whether it’s still passable?’ he shrugged. ‘Let’s just hope we’re lucky.’

  ‘We’re staking the outcome of this mission on luck?’ Aiden asked.

  Woody glanced at him with a grim smile. ‘Luck is the only thing that will get us through this, so you’d best start praying to whatever higher power you believe in.’

  ‘He’s right,’ Travis said, stepping up alongside them. ‘People don’t come back from places like this. The air, it’s… sick somehow. Can’t you feel it?’

  They all paused and listened, each of them scanning the surroundings. The old trees grew high without leaves near ground level. There was no birdsong, and no breeze or flitting of insects to disturb the still air. They could have been standing on an alien world. Aiden shook off the feeling, cursing himself for letting the place get to him already.

  They set off, leaving the trees behind and with them the clinging fog, coming eventually to a featureless plain of knee-high grass. The wind was absent here too, despite the lack of tree cover, leaving the grass eerily motionless as if Aiden was looking at a photograph. Trekking forward, they came to an old asphalt road which looked like it had been dropped into the middle of nowhere.

  ‘Take a few minutes,’ Woody told the group. ‘Then we follow this. But no one leaves the road, understood?’

  ‘Why not?’ one of the Syndicate men asked.

  Woody tapped the Geiger counter attached to his shoulder strap. ‘There are pockets of radiation littering this place. I don’t know how much you know about radiation, but it’s invisible to the naked eye. If you step into one and don’t realise it, you won’t be making it home. You’ll spend your last few hours alive puking yourself to death out here.’

  ‘What about those pills, won’t they protect us?’

  ‘They only work for small doses, they won’t do much if you wander into a lethal pocket.’

  The man swallowed hard and shifted his grip on his rifle as he stared out at the grass plains extending all around them. Ominous swathes of billowing grey clouds swept across the sky ahead. Aiden zipped up his jacket against the dropping temperature. He turned to check on Patrick who had been silent since the Falls, noting that some colour had returned to his face.

  A few minutes later they were moving again. Stalks of grass pierced up through the road, splitting and breaking the asphalt. It reminded Aiden of the main road connecting the Rim and Kiln Commons: all overgrown with bushes and weeds, the vehicles rusting away to dust. Nature was taking back the world despite everything humans had done to destroy it, and Aiden found he didn’t resent it in the slightest.

  They continued on as the shadows lengthened, the only feature an abandoned shell of a lorry trailer sitting on the road. Woody led the group in a wide birth around it, his Geiger counter clicking excitedly as they passed.

  Leaving the plain behind, they crested a slope and arrived at a sprawling multistory complex where empty, broken buildings loomed up out of the fading light. Falkington Hospital dominated the side of the largest building in plastic lettering. A few of the letters had fallen away, leaving a weathered outline behind. What drew Aiden’s eye though was the near perfect circular hole halfway up the side of the building, leaving multiple floors exposed. He could think of no reason for it to exist; it was as if it had been cut into by a huge mining drill.

  ‘Well, this is a lovely place you’ve led us to,’ Travis muttered. ‘And now it’s raining as well,’ he said, holding out his palm as water fell from the skidding grey clouds. ‘How far do we go to get around it?’

  ‘We’re going through,’ Woody said, staring ahead.

  ‘Are you mad? Look at it!’ Travis said, swinging his arm towards the building. ‘It’ll come down on our heads. And if by some miracle it doesn’t, it’s probably full of Ou
tlanders, or mutants waiting to eat our faces!’

  ‘It’s the only safe way south that I know,’ Woody said. ‘We aren’t in there for long, we just use the underground car park. As long as we pass through quick, we should be okay.’ His words were spoken with confidence, but the flicker of his jaw muscles betrayed his anxiety.

  ‘Why do we need to go through?’ Aiden asked as the rain picked up, heavy droplets splashing up from the ground around them. ‘We can’t just go around?’

  Woody shook his head. ‘I was here once before. Years ago. There were three of us on a scavenging mission looking for old world tech. We stood right where we are now and argued over what route to take south. In the end we decided to split up and meet on the other side of this hospital.’

  After a moment of silence, Travis lost his patience. ‘Well, what happened?’

  ‘A lot happened. But I was the only one that made it back.’ Woody stuck out his chin and turned back to the group. ‘Everyone listen up,’ he said, raising his voice. ‘Gas masks on, and I want single file — you step where I step. And absolute silence until we’re through.’

  The group all slipped on their rubber gas masks as instructed. Aiden followed behind Woody, with Travis behind him, and then the rest of the men as they approached the hospital and headed down a ramp into the darkness of the underground car park. The only sounds in Aiden’s ears were the drumming of rain above them and his own breathing, amplified by his mask’s filter. Nausea made his skin prickle as the effects of the radiation pill moved through his system. They descended into the car park, an unnatural wind whistling through the desolate structure. Long forgotten cars were still parked in their spaces, though their tyres had long since eroded away, their windows smashed. Woody stopped suddenly, holding up his arm as he dropped into a crouch.

  ‘What is it?’ Aiden asked, cursing the gas mask for limiting his field of view.

  ‘Ravagers,’ Woody hissed, his eyes wide behind the mask’s clear visor.

  Aiden’s heart raced at the mention of the mindless killers. He peered over Woody’s shoulder and saw what had made the smuggler stop. A series of corpses up ahead, their skin a patchwork of scars and tattoos like most Ravagers, hung from the concrete ceiling. Limbs and entrails lay scattered around, blood splattering the nearby cars. Aiden guessed at four bodies, but the mess of gore made it impossible to tell; they were fresh, not yet decomposed. He realised with a creeping dread that not only were they not alone here, but the presence of Ravagers meant that the savages couldn’t have retreated into the Barren Expanse years ago as everyone had assumed.

  ‘What did this?’ Travis asked, the mask exaggerating the sound of his breathing.

  Woody turned and held a finger to his mask, silencing the Dawnist.

  A faint rhythmic clicking sound started somewhere overhead in the darkness, like a bike wheel spinning in the wind. Everyone looked around in confusion trying to find the source of the noise. Aiden wiped the rain from his mask, but his breath still fogged the scratched, plastic visor leaving him half-blind.

  The clicking sped up, becoming louder. The hair on Aiden’s arms started to stand on end. He felt panic spread through the group.

  Then the sound cut out.

  There was a cry at the back of the group. Then a wet choking sound, followed by the scrabbling of feet as the scream was cut short. Someone levelled their gun towards the darkness and fired, causing everyone else to follow suit. The light of the automatic gunfire turned the car park into a monochrome slide-show of shadows and sparks.

  ‘Cease fire!’ Woody shouted over and over until finally the panicked gunfire stopped.

  Aiden grasped Woody’s shoulder. ‘We need to go now,’ he yelled, his ears ringing, his night vision destroyed. But he needn’t have said anything because as the darkness returned, the strange noise started again.

  Everyone jumped up and sprinted.

  Aiden was jostled from behind, causing him to slip in a puddle of gore on the concrete and leave a trail of bloody footprints behind him as he ran. He reached the slope leading up into muted daylight on the other side of the hospital. He ripped off his gas mask and forced deep shuddering breaths of cold air into his lungs. He stared back into the darkness of the car park but saw nothing. No movement, no light. His eyes travelled over the windows of the building, and he found himself unable to shake the feeling of being watched. Anyone could be in hiding there. Anyone, or any thing.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ someone asked, bent over double.

  ‘We can’t leave a man behind,’ Woody said, starting back down the slope towards the car park. ‘Everyone, weapons ready and follow me.’

  ‘Fuck that, I’m not going back in there,’ another said.

  ‘He’s already dead,’ Patrick said calmly.

  Woody paused, and turned. ‘You saw the thing that got him?’

  Patrick shook his head. ‘No, but I saw… what happened to him.’ There was a moment of uneasy silence as everyone’s imagination filled in the details. ‘There’s no way he can still be alive.’

  Woody looked at Aiden for confirmation. ‘I didn’t see,’ Aiden said, ‘but I think Patrick’s right. You saw what state those bodies were in. There’s nothing we can do for him.’

  Woody sighed, his shoulders slumping. ‘Two men down already. At this rate we might as well turn back before we all buy the farm.’ His hand moved to the radio clipped to his belt.

  It was the first lapse in confidence Aiden had ever seen in the man. ‘Why are you here?’ Aiden asked. As Woody looked at him in surprise, he repeated the question. ‘Why are you here? I assume it’s not just for the Syndicate pay-off.’

  ‘Orlen. Grace. The thought of my friends being crushed under Dawnist heels. If I can help stop their suffering then I will.’

  ‘Then we keep moving,’ Aiden said, his voice sterner than he intended. ‘We’ve got a mission to complete. We can’t turn back now or these deaths will have been for nothing. It’ll all have been for nothing.’

  Woody hesitated before nodding firmly. ‘You’re right.’ His posture straightened and his hand left the radio. ‘We keep going and we see this through.’

  ‘The sun is going down,’ Aiden said, noticing the ghostly splash of amber on the western horizon. ‘We need to find somewhere to make camp for the night.’

  Faint noises blew in on the wind; creaking buildings and grinding metal. No one needed any encouragement to keep moving. They headed away from the ominous complex and deeper into the Sinking Dust, shaken but determined.

  CHAPTER 33

  ELLINGTON LOUNGED BACK on the leather sofa in one of the town hall’s many visitor rooms, gently tapping his fingers against his forehead.

  It had been a bad week.

  First that criminal scum Aiden and his friend had broken into the prison and electrocuted him. Then the prisoners had escaped into the city. And now to top things off, the Mayor had stripped him of all his responsibilities for the foreseeable future. At first he had been relieved, but after a day or two of being forced to loiter around the town hall with nothing to do, he was starting to feel himself going crazy. His only solace was seeing the fat lump of a mayor squirm under Samuel’s heel. This was one of those moments.

  ‘What is that crazy cultist up to?’ the Mayor muttered as he paced in front of the lit fireplace, pausing from time to time to stare into the flames. ‘What is he planning to do with the Rim exactly? He can’t honestly believe he can run this place.’

  ‘Didn’t he already make that clear in his speech?’ Ellington said. ‘He wants to turn it into Lightgate: a place for all the saints to live happily ever after.’

  The Mayor paused in his pacing. ‘Don’t test me, Captain. This city is called the Rim, and you’ll do well to use the correct term.’

  ‘David?’ Catherine said, entering the room. ‘There you are. I was worried when you weren’t in your office.’

  The Mayor grunted, barely registering her presence. Ellington shook his head as he stared at her,
unable to understand how Reinhold could ignore such a figure of a woman. Even in that sensible blouse and knee length skirt, something about her was just magnetic to him. His gaze travelled up the curves of her body to the large, blue eyes. ‘Hello, Catherine,’ he said. ‘You’re looking lovely today.’

  ‘Captain,’ she said curtly as she readjusted her blouse self-consciously. She returned her attention to her husband. ‘Can I get you something to eat? You look tired. Maybe you should have a rest and stop worrying—’

  ‘Stop nagging me, woman!’ the Mayor snapped. ‘It’s always something with you, isn’t it? Can’t you just leave me be for five minutes?’

  Catherine cast her eyes down as he reprimanded her. Ellington found himself getting excited as he watched: the way her hair fell across her face, her darting eyes, her burning cheeks. She was driving him crazy. One day he would have her for himself, and he would appreciate every inch of her.

  Catherine excused herself, leaving the two men alone once more. The Mayor turned back to the fire, leaning against the stone bricks and sighing. With his rounded back turned, he suddenly seemed quite vulnerable. The man had lost most of his power in Samuel’s takeover. Maybe this was Ellington’s time to move against him.

  Ellington stood quietly, his hand resting on the telescopic baton he always carried at his belt; in his experience, it was the perfect tool for handling criminals and enemies alike. He took a step towards the Mayor, his footfall silent on the thick rug. He curled up his lip in disgust as he caught sight of the man’s fat overhanging his trousers, drooping down under his shirt.

  This was it. This was his chance to become Mayor — he could deal with Samuel better than this old has-been.

  He took another step but froze as a gun appeared in the Mayor’s hand; the machine pistol he kept in his desk.

  ‘Now is not your time, Captain. I suggest you sit back down before I do something irreversible.’

  Ellington’s hand moved away from his baton. ‘I didn’t realise you kept that weapon so close to hand now.’