“Run!” MJ snapped. “Run, damn it!”
CHAPTER 12
WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE
The crew sped across the uneven terrain until their lungs felt like lava and their visors were covered in fog. The warehouse seemed like a lifetime away and the harsh bands of rain were determined to keep them from making it. Behind them, more creatures burrowed out of the ground, trailing them at a gallop. A chorus of hoots and cackles followed in their wake, the excitement of the hunt stirred the animals into a frenzy.
The bio suits weren’t made for speed, they were made for durability. They were cumbersome and made running any distance nearly impossible. With every step, the creatures grew closer and the sound of their paws clattering over the rocks carried across the wind until it sounded like they were everywhere.
“They’re too close, we’re not gonna make it,” Jacob huffed with terror in his voice.
Alistair spared a look over his shoulder and nearly choked on his heart. A pack of the ravenous beasts were closing in, less than fifty yards away. Two of them had shot ahead of the group and closed the gap. Jacob was right, they weren’t gonna make it.
Alistair fumbled with his utility belt as he ran, trying to wrestle his pistol free. The belt jostled wildly with every stride he took, but eventually he was able to pull his gun out. Running sideways, he let off two shots that slammed into the dirt and only served to make the creatures run faster.
“Shit!” he grumbled then slowed down enough to take aim.
With his jaw clenched, he fired another shot that hit the closest one in the neck. It tumbled over its feet and slid to a stop in the mud. He pulled the trigger again and hit the second one in the leg and it slowed to a labored trot. Closing one eye, he aimed into the remaining horde, but knew he didn’t have enough bullets to make a dent.
“Get in!” Daniel yelled.
He reached the door first and yanked it open. Cindy and Jacob hurried inside while MJ turned and sent a flurry of bullets toward the mass of fur. Daniel joined her and a few more of the creatures fell before Alistair caught up and dove into the building, slamming the door shut behind them.
They were suddenly cast into absolute darkness, but not for long. Automatic lights affixed to their helmets flickered on, cutting beams through the blanket of shadows.
“What the fuck was that?” MJ huffed and leaned over to catch her breath.
A thunder of bangs sounded before anyone could respond. The creatures slammed into the door and the surrounding walls. They yelped and snarled as they rushed the building, but the structure was sound. For now, they were safe.
“Can they get in here?” Cindy asked.
“Not unless they have thumbs,” MJ replied in agitation and pointed to the door handle.
“I think those were badgers,” Jacob said, more to himself than anyone else.
“Badgers?”
“Yeah…like giant, mean ass badgers.”
“Whatever those were, I’m not going back out there,” Cindy mumbled through her fingers as she covered her face and crouched.
“That’s not normal. That can’t be normal. What happened to those things?” Daniel asked as he felt fear rising in the pit of his stomach.
“Radiation…” Alistair mumbled and shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows what went on up here? I’m surprised anything’s alive.”
“Those things aren’t normal, man. I don’t like any of this shit.”
Daniel took a deep breath and leaned his head back. His fingers shook and he curled them into fists and slammed them against his side.
“Calm down,” MJ said and placed her hand on his shoulder. “We’ve just gotta think. We’ve just gotta think our way out of this.”
She started to pace the floor then paused and pulled her helmet off. It was a relief to have the bucket off her head and breathe real air for the first time in years. Smiling, she let out a hoot then sucked in another lungful of the thin air and staggered.
“Damn it feels good to breathe!”
Pulling a flashlight from her belt, she clicked it on and shined the beam around the dim room. The floor was covered in the same red sand as outside, but beneath that was a concrete slab. Iron beams were bolted right into the floor, forming the skeleton for the aluminum skin that stretched across the entire building. It was rusted and looked frail, but it held against the constant attacks from the creatures outside.
MJ took a few steps deeper into the room and followed the beam of light. “This must’ve been some kind of feed store,” she mumbled and illuminated the rows of empty shelves that would’ve held supplies back when the world was as it should be.
“Why is it still here?” Jacob asked. “How did this place survive?”
MJ shrugged then spun back around and faced the group. “Get comfortable. Sounds like this rain is in it for the long haul and we’re gonna have to deal with those things, those badgers before we get back to the egg.”
“There was like fifty of them,” Jacob gasped.
“Yeah, and we have a lot of bullets. I thought you were in the Army?”
“Navy,” he corrected.
“Oh…that makes sense,” MJ said then shut her flashlight off and found a comfortable spot on the floor.
The rain continued to pour, rattling against the roof as the minutes dragged on. Thunder sent subtle vibrations through the structure as the wind threatened to pull the roof away. Even though they’d found themselves surrounded by danger, the sound of rain, thunder, the sound of nature was music to their ears.
Slowly the rest of the group settled in. They let their guard down and listened to the world they’d forgotten. The creatures outside seemed to become disinterested and the bangs at the door sounded with less frequency until they stopped altogether.
Time moved slowly and the monotone pitter-patter outside was like a lullaby. The team was tired and one by one they found themselves succumbing to boredom or exhaustion. It didn’t take long for whispers to be replaced with heavy breaths and snores.
“Daniel,” Alistair whispered after an eternity of silence. “You still awake?”
“Yeah. Not like I’m gonna sleep with those things outside.”
“I think they’re gone.”
“They’ll be gone when we shoot every last one of them. What’d you want anyway?”
Alistair groaned and pushed himself onto all fours. “I wanted you to look at something.”
“Look at what?”
“Just follow me.”
Alistair crept through the darkness on his tip toes. Under the cover of snores and muffled breathing, he made his way toward the door. Daniel followed him but stopped short and twisted his face in confusion.
“I’m not going out there,” he said firmly.
“Neither am I,” Alistair replied. “I noticed this earlier, but there was too much going on.”
He pointed toward the hinges and shined his light. Daniel moved closer and glanced at the metal then shrugged.
“Okay, what? What am I supposed to see?”
“They’re new,” Alistair replied.
“And?”
“And they’re new. This door was recently replaced. Somebody put this door on here. This didn’t survive anything. Somebody is alive up here, somebody rebuilt this place.”
There was a crackle near the back of the room and they both snapped around. The roof rattled and creaked as another band of rain splattered against it. The building moaned from the wind and Daniel took a shallow breath then chuckled.
“Man, you’re over thinking this,” he said. “You’re making me jumpy. It’s just death up here…nothing else.”
Suddenly, a shadow leapt from the corner and landed at the end of the row. It froze momentarily as if stillness made it invisible. Narrowing his eyes, Daniel leaned forward and the figure turned then sped down one of the empty aisles.
“What the fuck?” Alistair growled before giving chase.
He ran down the narrow passage and vanished into the da
rkness. His steps thundered against the concrete but the unknown assailant was quick, almost too quick to be human. Before Alistair could reach the back, the shadow slammed into a door at the rear of the building and vanished into the storm outside.
CHAPTER 13
THE REAL SURVIVORS
“Look, I know what I saw. Besides, Daniel saw it, too,” Alistair said for the fifth time.
“I’m just asking,” Jacob replied. “Because a shadow running out of the shadows and then turning invisible in the rain is a bit much, even for now.”
“Look asshole, it wasn’t a shadow it was a fucking person!”
“If you say so.”
“And look at the hinges and the screws on the door. They’ve been replaced, recently.”
“That could be anything. Doesn’t make your mystery man any more real.”
“Okay…okay,” MJ said and held her hands out. “We’re up here to investigate, so we’re gonna investigate. The rain is starting to let up and we can use this place as a midpoint to make it back. As soon as it’s clear outside I’ll take Alistair and Daniel out to look around, until then I think we need to lock this place down and make sure there’s no one else in here…human or otherwise.”
“You’re not leaving me here,” Cindy objected. “No offense, Jacob, but when the shit hit the fan you weren’t thinking about any of us. If you guys are going out, I’m coming with you.”
“This isn’t a debate,” MJ growled.
“Well, I’m not staying here to babysit her,” Jacob announced with a puffed-up chest and shot a glance at Cindy. “We stick together. You guys go, we all go.”
MJ clenched her jaw then reluctantly nodded. She didn’t need two tag-alongs, but it wasn’t worth the argument. She’d lost the battle the moment they both left the egg.
They spent the next half hour scouring the warehouse and securing the doors. MJ cursed herself for being so careless earlier. Her time in the egg had dulled her senses, and now that she was back in the world that type of negligence would get her killed.
The rain stopped a few hours later. No one was too eager to head back out but eventually they collected around the front and shared hesitant looks.
“We’ll leave our gear,” MJ instructed. “Daniel get the rifles from the bags and leave everything else by the wall.”
Cutting his eyes, Daniel saluted then headed off.
“Helmets on,” MJ continued. “If those things are gone, we need to get moving rain or no rain.”
Once all the gear had been stowed, Daniel gathered the M4 rifles and handed them out. Gripping his own, he filed into line behind Alistair and cleared his throat.
“Everyone ready?” MJ asked, her eyes lingering on Jacob longer than anyone else.
“Yes!” Jacob snapped. “I’m ready.”
Easing the door open, MJ leaned her head out and looked from side to side. It was eerily quiet and completely deserted. With her gun pushed out in front, she stepped through the doorway and stared across the apocalyptic landscape.
It looked like it had never rained. The earth was parched with a light cloud of the reddish sand swirling in the air. The sun was nothing more than a dull haze overhead and a thin fog was still floating over the ground.
“Guess we don’t’ need these.” MJ took a deep breath then pulled her helmet off and let it hang from a cable on her belt.
“Hey!” she shouted and tightened her grip around the handguard of her M4.
“What the hell are you doing?” Cindy asked in panic.
“Hunting. Hey!” she yelled again then twisted her lips and unleashed an ear-splitting whistle.
The sound echoed through the quiet, but it was alone. Nothing else stirred besides a light wind and the hushed sound of sand crunching under their boots. MJ waited a few more minutes in silence then decided that it was safe.
“We’re gonna be moving and if something happens, you’re gonna have to keep up. So, if you want to stay here, this is your last chance,” MJ said to Cindy.
“I can run,” Cindy replied simply.
“Alright. Alistair, lead the way. Let’s find your mystery man.”
They headed past the warehouse and toward what looked like an endless stretch of forgotten desert. The gray, smog that seemed to never dissipate made it difficult to judge distance and obscured what lay ahead, but every step they took was a repeat of the last.
Step after step they followed behind Alistair on blind faith. Intuition or the arrogance spurred him forward. He knew what he’d seen but finding life out in the emptiness was the only way he would seize vindication. There were people up there, he knew it.
The elevation changed slightly as the ground rolled and the clustered rocks grew to small boulders and piles of loosely packed hills. Wind hushed through the valley, stirring the dirt and smog into tiny tornadoes. The team marched in silence across the wasteland, keeping a watchful eye out for any creatures.
Somewhere above the drab haze the sun burned, but was barely visible. The low levels of light made it easy to lose track of time and as they pushed further the hours rolled by like waves crashing into the beach. There was no telling how far they’d gone or how long they’d been gone.
“We’ve been at this for a while,” Jacob said as he leaned over to catch his breath. “I haven’t seen this shadow guy yet.”
Alistair glared at him then sipped water from the siphon in his helmet.
“Why don’t you just take your helmet back off?” Daniel asked.
Alistair shrugged then looked up. “Let that shit burn your face and you’ll keep your helmet on too.”
“Jacob’s right. We’ve gone far enough. We’ve been out of touch and I’m sure Max is losing his shit. We’ll take shelter at the warehouse tonight and head back to the egg tomorrow.”
“Oh, come on, just a little bit further?” Alistair begged. “Just over the hill. We’re close, I can feel it.”
MJ smiled. “Just over the hill,” she said firmly.
“What is this?” Jacob suddenly asked.
He kicked his foot in the dirt and hit something hard. Kneeling, he swept the sand away and revealed a splintered piece of wood. He grabbed it and held it up in the air. It was a little more than a foot long with a jagged shard of stone wrapped on the end.
“Is that a spear?” MJ whispered. She looked up at Alistair and raised her eyebrow. “Maybe you did see something. Let’s get up that hill.”
Alistair nodded and moved toward the hill with MJ charging behind him. More broken weapons were scattered in the dirt, knives, warped pieces of metal, even the remnants of vehicles. The further they went the more it became clear, Earth was still every much occupied.
“How’s your face feeling?” MJ asked Alistair as she caught up to him.
“I’ll live. Still burns a little.”
“Keep walking like normal,” MJ replied in a strange voice.
“What?”
“We’re being followed.”
“Huh?” Alistair asked in shock and started to turn back.
MJ grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. “We’re being followed. They’re staying just out of sight, using the smog, but they’re back there.”
Alistair tensed up. “What are we gonna do?”
“We can’t go back home now, that’s for sure. That hill up ahead, we’ll use it as a choke point.”
Nodding, Alistair took a deep breath as his hands coiled around his rifle. He wanted to turn back to Jacob and scream that he was right but his overwhelming fear of the unknown sent his heart into full on panic.
“Does anyone else know?” Alistair asked.
MJ shook her head. “Daniel is too close to Cindy and I wouldn’t tell her or Jacob.”
“Okay.” Alistair strained his ears with each step the took. Whether the footsteps that he heard creeping behind them were real or imagined didn’t matter. He knew he saw someone in the warehouse and now they were being followed. Of all the things he feared before leaving the egg, survivors of the en
d of the world wasn’t one of them.
They reached the top of the hill and let the rest of the group catch up. They weren’t quite at the peak and couldn’t see what was on the other side, but MJ’s mind was made up, this would be the place they turned the tables. Whoever or whatever was behind them, wouldn’t be for much longer.
“Why’d we stop?” Jacob asked. “We gonna keep chasing this ghost or what?”
MJ glanced at him then turned to address the rest of the group. As she did, Daniel walked past her and stumbled toward the top of the sand dune.
“I need all of you guys to pay attention right now and Cindy, especially you.”
“I’m not a child, MJ. I—”
“Just shut up and pay attention,” MJ cut her off.
“Guys!” Daniel called out in a wavering voice. “Come here. Come here now!”
MJ turned to find him laying in the dirt at the top of the hill where the land flattened out. He was staring back at them with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.
“What is it?” MJ asked impatiently. “And why the hell are you laying in the dirt?”
“Shh,” Alistair replied and motioned for her to join him.
MJ took the last few steps toward him and dropped to all fours. “This better be damn important,” she complained.
Before Daniel could respond, she looked down into the valley and her heart skipped a beat. Below them was a winding path of packed dirt that led to a massive quarry that spanned nearly four football fields. Debilitated shacks were dappled along the trail and at the bottom was a series of metal framed aqueducts built right into the walls, disappearing into caves that ran deep into the earth.
It was a city, brimming with life, but not the kind any of them recognized. Fires spewed from pits and towers of smoke floated through the air, morphing with the smog that grayed out the world. Aluminum sheds and rudimentary factories sprouted up like weeds. It was a scene from the apocalypse…it was the apocalypse and every desolate, forsaken image was a tale of loss.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 91
