Escape From Metro City

by Mandel, Richard

  "Thank you, sir," Lisa replied evenly, maintaining eye contact all the while.

  Nye paused and looked slightly to one side, as if searching for the right words, then locked eyes with Lisa again and resumed speaking. "It is because of those driving skills and your obvious determination to win that has caused me to approach you." He now smiled again. "How would you like to drive for me?"

  Lisa looked surprised. "For you?"

  "Yes, Ms. Stanridge," Nye said. "I'll cut to the chase, because I'm a direct man. I don't believe in employing losers. That's why those who drove for and worked on the Pandora team today have already been served their walking papers. I believe in only winners, and you proved today that you are a winner, and that you have both the drive and skill to keep winning. That's the kind of people I want working for me. That's why I'm offering you the chance to be the driver around which I will build my new racing team."

  "What do I get?" Lisa asked.

  "The best support and the best vehicle that money can buy," Piter de Voormand said, stepping forward. "This is a once in a lifetime chance, Ms. Stanridge. You would do well to take it."

  It was obvious that the pair was expecting an immediate answer. Instead, Lisa turned and looked at Rob and Cathy. They smiled for her sake, although she could see that they both were trying to hide their worry. She then looked back at the two Pandora men, set herself, and answered them. "I'll cut to the chase too, Mr. Nye, since I also believe in being direct. No thanks." Both of Nye' eyebrows went up and de Voormand couldn't hide his own surprise as Lisa quickly continued. "You see, I value friendship over money, and I couldn't ask for better friends than Rob and Cathy. They supported me when no one else would. They've also gone out of their way to help me with everything I and their mechanics needed to put together a car that beat that one all your money bought you. Like I said, Mr. Nye. No thanks. Not now, not ever. Rob? Cathy?" With that she made a point of linking arms with them, Rob to her right and Cathy to her left, and together the three of them walked away from the two Pandora men. The ring of bodyguards parted soundlessly at their passing, and then closed again behind them just as silently.

  "You're making a big mistake!" de Voormand called after them. "No one turns down B.D. Nye!"

  "I just did!" Lisa called back with a laugh, not even looking back. She grinned at the Vespers and they back, and together the three of them walked away, leaving a dumbfounded de Voormand and a very quiet Nye behind as they watched the trio depart.

  The sound of the plane's engines gradually drifted back into his consciousness as B. D. Nye's mind returned to the present. Of course all that had been a year ago. He had let her go as insignificant, a good-looking girl with more beauty than brains, who didn't have the common sense to take the best deal she might ever get in her insignificant little life, and had moved on to more pressing concerns. He had been so wrong in his initial assessment of her, he admitted to himself. That half-breed Cherokee stock car driver who was obviously a lot smarter than she looked was now front and center in the grand drama that was being played out in the dying Metro City ... and it could be proven that Pandora was directly responsible for her being in her current sad shape, provided the poor girl somehow survived her injuries, somehow survived the death warrant that the now out-of-control ubermensch was still trying to serve on her, and somehow lived. Even if she didn't, the word would spread and the virtual presence of Lisa Standridge would figure large in subsequent press coverage, as well as the official government investigation that was sure to come. Nye harrumphed softly at that last thought. Oh, but the fed would be doing its best to play CYA on this too while maintaining at least the semblance of public service. Both their ass and Pandora's were in the same sling, but they controlled the process and would find a way to extricate themselves in the long run. Pandora, a private military contractor with no public service obligations whatsoever, would be sacrificed for the sake of public expediency. Translation: so more than a few congressmen and bureaucrats whose hands were as bloodstained as his in this mess could escape and retain their positions of power, while his head and the that of the rest of Pandora corporate were lined up on the public chopping block.

  Oh, but how the worm turned sometimes! Only this time, those poor politicians weren't going to get to carry B. D. Nye's head through the halls of Congress in triumph for all the world to see while they got off scot free. That was why Nye had consented to being spirited out of the country as fast as possible by de Voormand. Nye knew where this was heading. He had seen it happen too many times before to others in his youth, but it wasn't going to happen to him. He would even the score, even if he had to do it from abroad. de Voormand had made sure of that. de Voormand had made that possible. He was a good man, the Dutchman. Nye hoped he didn't lose him because of this mess.

  "Sir?"

  Nye was interrupted in his train of thought by the pleasant voice of the stewardess. So intent had he been in his reflections that he had not noticed when she had left the cockpit and come back down the aisle, a tray full of empty used paper cups and odd used food wrappings balanced in one hand, and then stop by his seat. He looked up at her and forced a smile. "Yes?"

  The stewardess smiled down at him. "The captain wants you to know that we'll be reaching the coast of Europe soon. After that, we'll be touching down for a brief refueling stop before continuing on our way."

  Nye continued to smile. "Thank you."

  "You're welcome, sir. Can I get you anything else, sir?"

  Nye reached over, picked up his glass from his holder, and held it up for her to see that it was still mostly full. "No thanks, miss. I'm doing just fine here, thank you."

  "Yes, sir." With that, the stewardess continued on her way to the back.

  All was quiet inside the Pandora complex north of Metro City. In fact it was too quiet. There were no sounds of night animals, or even of night insects. It was just ... quiet. The only sound that could be heard was Raul's soft snoring from the bushes not far from where Cy stood watch, keeping an eye on the main gate. There had been not a sign, not a peep, not even a hint of either the ubermensch or the Army relief column he believed, no he knew General Ryan was putting together. It should have been on its way by now. What was holding it up? Cy thought about it for a while, snorted, and then checked his watch. He smiled, and then walked over and began to shake Raul gently. "Hey Raul, get up," he said quietly. "It's four-o'-clock." Instantly Raul scrambled to his feet, assault rifle in hand. He was up so quickly that he almost knocked Cy over in the process. "Easy, easy!" Cy exclaimed. "It's me, buddy, not Big and Ugly."

  Raul looked at Cy for a few moments, as his head cleared and his eyes adjusted to being fully awake again, and then he grinned. "Sorry, senor. I was having bad dream." He now looked around. "Any sign of that thing?"

  "Not a peep since I wounded it and it ran away," Cy said.

  "Oh, good," Raul said. "Maybe it no come back?"

  "Oh, it's coming back, believe me," Cy said. "It's got to finish the job. That's the way those things work, Raul, like a trained dog or shark. Besides, if I were in its shoes, that's what I'd be planning and eventually doing. It'll be back before sunrise. I'd bet money on it."

  Raul gave a grunt. "So why you think it take so long?"

  Cy spoke evenly. "I've been thinking about that all night. I got a good solid hit on it with one of my grenades, so maybe it wanted to treat its own wounds before arming up. I wouldn't put it past the intelligence of those things, if what Mercy told us about them earlier is true."

  Raul laughed. "Strong. And smart. And tall too. I wish I were like that."

  Cy eyed him for a moment, and then gave a chuckle. "At least you've got the strong and smart parts. Also, don't forget you being short is one of the reasons why the ubermensch didn't notice you until you tried to tackle it."

  "Si," Raul replied with his own chuckle, but returned to his pensive look all too quickly. "Anything else?"

  This time Cy let his worry show. "Personally, I think why it's taking s
o long to return is that it might have made itself some kind of suit of body armor from the stuff my fellows were wearing, before the massed hordes of the zombies took them out yesterday."

  "¡Ai, yi, yi!" Raul exclaimed in a low voice. "You really think so?"

  "Wouldn't put it past it," Cy replied. "You saw for yourself how smart it is when it attacked. Who did it zero in on?"

  "Lisa," Raul promptly responded.

  "That's right," Cy said. "The most important member of our group insofar as surviving the Outbreak is concerned, and I'll bet its masters at Pandora gave it that information before sending it after us. It also cleared out this area of zombies and other threats, wrecked the radio transmitter in here, and set up the roadblock before we arrived as part of its attack. It's smart, Raul. It's smart and it's cunning, like a fox, and it knows how to use every resource at its disposal to do its job. That's why I'd be willing to bet money it'll be coming back wearing some form of body armor. It's not going to let me hit it with a grenade ever again."

  Raul's face fell. "But if that thing protect itself, then what do we do, senor?"

  In response, Cy lifted up one hand and clasped Raul on the shoulder. "The best that we can," he answered, "and we do it as long as we can, until the cavalry comes over the hill."

  "Si," Raul said, clasping Cy's hand in return. They stood like that for a moment, and then both let go.

  "What was that dream, if you don't mind my asking?" Cy said, as the two of them settled down in kneeling positions behind the hedges and bushes, with the both of them facing the front gate.

  "Oh, it was bad," Raul said. "I was being chased by this big black bird. As big as an eagle, and mean as all out. No matter where I go or how fast I run, it stay right on me."

  "So what happened?"

  "I wake up by you shaking me."

  Cy chuckled. "Sorry."

  "Is okay. I no like bad dreams."

  Cy looked at something behind Raul, then at him again. "Don't look now, Raul," he announced, "but there's a big black raven behind you perched on top of the lab building."

  Raul abruptly turned and looked to where Cy had indicated. His eyes opened wide, and he almost jumped out of his skin at what he saw. "¡Mierda!" he exclaimed. "The bird from my dream!"

  "That's no dream," Cy said. "That's our new friend."

  "Friend?" Raul said, his disbelief clear to hear.

  "Yeah," Cy said. "I've been thinking about it. I'm willing to bet this is the same raven we saw back at the police station, and the three of us before that at the hospital, and Lisa and me at the Armory before that. I saw it the very first time as I was being chased down the street by all those zombies that overpowered my convoy." He now leaned toward Raul, speaking in a low tone but in a quite deliberate manner. "I'm also willing to bet it's either a Raven Mocker or a familiar of one, like Lisa's talked about."

  "A Raven Mocker?!" Raul exclaimed. He looked at the bird again, which still perched in its sleeping pose, then back at Cy. "No wonder I have that bad dream. Oh man, this is almost as bad as that ubermensch thing!" He now looked serious. "So which of us you think is after, senor?"

  "Not Lisa, oddly enough," Cy said thoughtfully. "She says she had this spirit vision thing while she was out, during that brief time she was clinically dead, and that it told her it in that vision that it isn't her time. Says the Great Spirit won't let the Raven Mocker take her, because she still has a great future ahead of her." Cy laughed softly. "I'm not saying I believe it, but I hope for her sake she's right."

  "But if she is, then what's it still doing here?" Raul asked nervously. He was trying to look at it, while trying to look like he wasn't trying to look at it. As for the raven, it never reacted to Raul's antics, remaining apparently frozen in its pose of unperturbed sleep.

  "Two reasons, I'm guessing," Cy said, and this time he looked rather pensive. "One, to make sure she lives. Orders of the Great Spirit, and all that. Guarding her from one monster by making another serve as her personal bodyguard, perhaps."

  "Man," Raul said with obvious awe. "To have a Raven Mocker as bodyguard. Esto es loco. That is how you say, it blows the mind?"

  "Yeah," Cy replied. "There's also reason number two."

  "What is that, senor?"

  "It's after one of us."

  Raul's face blanched. "One of us?!"

  "Yeah." Cy looked as serious as he had ever been in the short time Raul had been part of the group. "Since the Great Spirit isn't going to let that thing have Lisa, it's probably going to want another victim, and the rest of us are conveniently available. Lisa was upset when she learned that Great Spirit's order to the Raven Mocker didn't cover me or you or Mercy, and she made a point of telling that to both of us." He paused, gave a grunt, and then continued. "Since it's not going to be allowed to feast on Lisa's soul, Raul, it's going pick one of us instead for dinner once it's good and ready. The question is, which one of us will it choose?" he finished, looking straight at Raul.

  Raul gulped. He looked at Cy, then back at the presumably sleeping raven high above, then back at Cy again. "Desgraciado. That's too much, man. I wish you no tell me that."

  "You shouldn't have asked," Cy said.

  "I wish I hadn't," Raul said. He again looked back at the raven for a bit, then back at Cy. "I mean, is like having Grim Reaper back there, waiting to swing that big blade, you know?"

  "I know, but you've also got to figure on Big and Ugly having to watch out for that same blade too." Cy shook his head. "That's the only good thing about this, Raul, as far as I can tell. Lisa's probably got the best protection in this world right now, or maybe the other world, or whatever. I don't know, but for you and me and Mercy, it's like walking a tightrope over a fire pit with both ends of the rope being set on fire while you're still only halfway across."

  "Si," Raul agreed. He again looked at the raven and then back at Cy. "So what do we do?"

  Cy made a point of resetting himself in his position. "I don't know about you, Raul, but I'm tired of having to deal with all of this existential shit, and on top of all of the Outbreak stuff too. All I'm gonna do from now on is focus on my job, and that's to make sure you and Mercy stay alive and Lisa doesn't get any more banged up than she already is, until the Army can get in here and rescue us. That at least I can do, so I'm doing it. And as for our unexpected company back there, well, there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I'm only going to worry about those things I can do something about, understand?"

  "Not really, but I think I do like you." Raul now better positioned himself behind his own cover as well. "Si. I help you make sure that thing no hurt Miss Lisa no more."

  "That's reason enough," Cy said. The U.S. Army corporal smiled at Raul, the stout Mexican illegal grinned back at Cy, and together the two of them kept watch on the Pandora complex main gate.

  Mercy awoke with a start. She glanced quickly at a nearby wall-mounted clock. It read 4:06 AM. She came to her feet from the chair in which she had been sleeping and looked down at the gurney where her patient lay. Lisa was still there, heavily swathed in bandages and slumbering peacefully. There was no sign she had been disturbed in any way. Mercy looked around the room. Nothing had changed. Everything was where she had left it. She got up, grabbing her assault rifle as she did, walked to the nearest window, and peeked between two of the slats in the closed window blinds. Both Cy and Raul were still guarding the entrance to the main lab building, and they appeared to be talking to each other. Only then did Mercy allow herself to relax. She went back to her seat, propped the assault rifle back up where she had it before, and then took in and let out a deep breath. The long nap had done her a lot of good. she decided, as she flexed her arms and fingers. Even so, she wanted to be wide awake and ready when the ubermensch returned. Unless things changed, and until the Army was able to come up with a new way to get to them, one Mercy Parks was currently the last line of defense for poor Lisa Stanridge. She had done everything within her power to save the poor young
woman's life after the first attack by the ubermensch. She would do her part to make sure that thing didn't get a second chance.

  Mercy let her eyes wander to the neatly folded pile of Lisa's clothes sitting on the nearby counter. She had been forced to remove all of them when prepping Lisa for treatment, given the number and extent of Lisa's many injuries, and she had taken the trouble to clean them as best she could as a means of passing the time.

  She eyed Lisa's black racing firesuit, now showing damage on its left side both top and bottom, and felt a twinge of jealousy go through her. There had been a time when she could have worn something like that without shame, only she had been too uptight and straitlaced to even dare. For her, the best years of her life as a young woman had been spent first at college and then at medical school, always studying and prepping, rarely socializing save with that small clique of fellow students who were in the same boat as she, and never taking the time to dress herself in a way that would deliberately catch a man's eye. Unlike most of her friends, she fortunately hadn't become stuck that way. She had met John not long after she had been hired by Pandora, and the two had become close as the years rolled, their careers advanced, and their friendship grew into more than just that. She was also glad that they shared their love both in public and in private before the Outbreak happened, because now she was never going to get to do that again. John was dead, and he was never coming back. Never.

  Mercy stifled a sob, and forced the thought of John out of her mind. She couldn't do anything about that. It was done and long over. She couldn't save John, but she could save Lisa. If it were humanly possible, she swore to herself, she was going to save Lisa. By saving her she could save others, and perhaps even the whole world, from the catastrophe that had swallowed Metro City. That thought made it worth it. Yes, she would save Lisa, even if she had to put her own life on the line to do it.

  At the same time that General Ryan's forces were finishing their preparations, and Lisa's group of survivors was making ready to be rescued by them, a singular humanoid figure of abnormally large size and wearing a mishmash of scavenged body armor and various weapons raced back up Highway 9 on foot from downtown Metro City. The ubermensch was bloodied and showed numerous wounds on those parts of its body which its new makeshift body armor did not cover. The stump of its right arm had been crudely dressed, and yet the wound on the side of its right head remained open and was particularly hideous, with a large patch of skull bone showing and tendrils of torn flesh and hair trailing away. It ignored the constant pain from its head just like it ignored the constant pain from its amputated arm and the lesser pains up and down its right side and lower left calf. Its simple mind disregarded such trivial matters. It had been honed and developed to receive and obey orders without question and to adapt to changing circumstances in the most direct and efficient manner possible. It had no way of knowing that its now-damaged mind had re-interpreted what it could still understand of its orders regarding the four Metro City Outbreak survivors. As it currently interpreted them now, its duty was to terminate Lisa Stanridge and all companions with extreme prejudice by any and all means necessary, and that it was expendable itself in this regard. Period. That was why, once it had recovered sufficiently from its wounds to restore a fair portion of its combat effectiveness, it had realized that it would need more and better resources for its task than what was available at the local Pandora facility.