Beyond the Crystal City

by Logan Brookfield

  A handful of the younger men darted up a side street and uncovered a two-wheeled cart which was hidden under a pile of rags and cloth. It had been modified with two metal plates welded to the front offering some cover from the potential hail of bullets to come. They pulled at the handles until it broke free from the rocky ground where it had stood, and they slowly made their way up the side street.

  Lita now joined the bulging mass. Anger and revenge overflowed as they continued to chant, ‘Kill them, kill them all.’

  The men with the cart rounded the corner and started a slow trot which turned into a run. The explosives strapped to the cart held firm in their bindings as the wooden wheels bumped along the uneven ground. As they neared, the Fire Striker started to run alongside the cart, lighting a fuse.

  ‘Move, make way,’ one man shouted as the crowd parted, making a path allowing the wooden cart to pass through.

  Lita waved them on as they passed. ‘May the spirit grant you success delivering medicine to the sick devils of the tower. Cleanse their filth from the earth and rid their tyranny from this city.’

  The men picked up the pace; they were now only a short distance from the main gates as they exited the crowd. This was a suicide mission which had been practised over and over and had to succeed.

  Two Black Hats high in a guard tower spotted the threat and opened fire. The frontal armour plating of the cart deflected the bullets, which ricocheted with sparks and pings. Several drones swooped over the gates; two broke away and made their way towards the crowd. They opened fire with their high-calibre weapons as bodies fell all around, trampled on by those who tried to run. A hardcore group including Lita still moved towards the gates; it was now or never.

  Three drones flanked the men pushing the bomb; they opened fire with short bursts to the head which cut them down. The cart toppled over spilling its contents. Another drone opened fire; the payload exploded sending a plume of fire and dirt high into the sky, engulfing and destroying two drones which fell back to Earth in flames. The blast radiated outwards in all directions killing the nearby protestors.

  Lita found herself face down in the dirt; her ears rang with a high-pitched noise and blood trickled into her eyes obscuring her vision. Black charred bodies were everywhere and she wiped her dirt-and blood-filled eyes in an effort to see the gate. It was bent and buckled but not destroyed. A single drone mopped up and machine-gunned the dead and dying. Lita felt the thud and burning pain as the bullets ripped through her back as her vision faded into blackness.

  Chapter Twelve

  The hot sun blazed down on the shanty town as Carl and Amy walked along the dusty tracks near the edge of their world. The outer areas were quieter and less busy than the centre as there was nothing near the fences but dirt and the odd skeleton. Mini whirlwinds blew the loose ground around their feet as they both breathed deeply trying to suck the last bits of oxygen out of the polluted air.

  ‘I hate this place,’ Amy said.

  ‘Do you hate everything about it?’

  Amy looked at Carl and smiled. ‘Not everything. I’m glad that I have you in my life or it would be very dull.’

  ‘Same here, you certainly brighten things up for me.’

  A drone flew overhead and Carl stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Let’s be careful not to get too close to the fence. These bleached bones sticking out of the dirt are the remainder of the poor folk that did.’

  ‘What happened to them? Killed by drones?’ Amy asked.

  ‘Maybe or maybe the land mines that pepper the ground around this area, so best not to get too close. I want to show you something, it’s just over there.’

  Amy followed close behind Carl as he navigated his way around the rubble and dirt mounds of no man’s land. The buffer zone between the Wretches’ shacks and the fence, no man’s land was the second last line of defence against escape. It was patrolled by drones night and day and heavily booby-trapped. Anyone who had made it through also had to deal with an impenetrable wall guarded by machine gun towers.

  Carl stopped at a mound of rubble covered with a rusting corrugated iron sheet. He held two corners and pulled it to one side exposing a small hole in the ground.

  ‘What is it?’ Amy asked.

  Carl knelt down. ‘It’s Ondo. Somewhere the drones can’t see and a good hiding place for my stash. Come on, I’ll show you,’ he said disappearing down into the hole.

  Amy looked around and went down the hole close behind Carl. The tunnel had a slight downward incline and was only as wide as her shoulders. After crawling along on all fours for a few minutes they came to another hole and a steel ladder.

  ‘Come on, stay close, it’s not much further,’ Carl said climbing down.

  Amy followed behind and found herself stepping off the last rung onto a concrete floor. ‘What is this place?’ she said looking all around.

  They stood on a smooth platform with tunnels at each end. These appeared to be blocked with rubble and were impassable. The place was dimly bathed in natural light flooding in through various small cracks and holes in the ceiling. The walls were covered in green tiles and the stench of rotting water filled their nose.

  Amy stood at the edge of the platform and peered down. ‘This is amazing.’

  ‘I think it belonged to the ancients. Those rusted iron tracks must have been used by some kind of transport travelling through the tunnels,’ Carl said nodding towards one of the blocked entrances. ‘They probably go to other parts of the city. I only found it recently. Maybe it travels from one side of the world to the other but the city dwellers either don’t know about it or have ignored it, probably thinking it was buried and nobody would find it.’

  ‘It’s cool down here. The air seems fresher even if it does smell like crap,’ Amy said looking at a metal sign on the wall which said “Welcome to ondo”.

  Carl looked up to the ceiling. ‘It doesn’t get baked by the sun for a start and there seems to be a trickle of water coming from somewhere.’

  ‘That’s a curious name for a place. Do you think that’s what the ancients called their city?’

  ‘Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve never heard the term before and it doesn’t make much sense,’ Carl said looking around.

  Amy approached the sign and started to rub it with her fingers. ‘There are more letters here, hidden under the dirt and rust.’ She picked up a rag from the floor and rubbed more vigorously until more letters revealed themselves. ‘Welcome to London,’ she said.

  ‘London?’ Carl said. ‘Maybe that was the name of the ancients’ world.’

  ‘Could be, yes. I wonder if Pete would know. Didn’t he once have a map of the ancient world?’

  ‘Yes he did but I think he traded it for some batteries, but I can ask him.’ Carl nodded.

  A small shape scurried past and into a dark corner of the platform.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ Amy said.

  ‘Some rodent-type thing by the looks of it,’ Carl replied.

  Amy widened her eyes to try to adjust to the dim light. ‘I’ve never seen anything like that before. I didn’t think anything else lived in the city.’

  Carl stepped closer to where the creature had run to. ‘The air seems different down here and each time I come down I see something new. There used to be animals up top before the scorching sun killed them all. Every shape you can imagine from tiny critters to huge beasts that could flatten ten men.’

  Amy squatted down and sifted through some of the dust on the platform. ‘It’s hard to believe there was ever a time when things were cooler and the air cleaner. I wonder what it was like sharing the world with animals.’

  Carl squatted down. ‘People probably abused them and took advantage. Destroyed the places they lived and poisoned their water. That’s what people seem to do, they ruin everything.’

  ‘So what do you do down here usually?’ Amy asked.

  ‘It’s somewhere to come and hide from the heat of the day. The pollution doesn’t seem to reach this far
either and I can also keep this stuff down here,’ Carl said getting up and walking over to a pile covered with a cloth.

  Amy got up. ‘What is it?’

  Carl pulled the cloth back revealing a small pile of contraband. ‘It’s enough good stuff to get me shot is what it is.’

  Amy’s mouth dropped open. ‘That’s some nice illegal stuff. You got fruit. You have tea and coffee too. That’s a lot of good gear.’

  Carl picked up an apple and a small packet of tea. ‘Here, take this for your mum. She’s not well and the fruit will do her good. How is she these days anyway?’

  ‘Not good,’ Amy said shaking her head. ‘She gets weaker every day and now hardly drinks anything.’

  ‘Whatever happened to your dad, if I may ask?’

  Amy’s head dropped. ‘It’s hard to talk about.’

  ‘Then don’t, it’s OK. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.’

  ‘I don’t mind telling you,’ she said. ‘Dad was a friend of Benjamin’s. He’d known him from the early days and they hung out as kids together. But then Benjamin became more radical with his ideas and got involved with others who wanted to overthrow the Cloud people. Problem with Dad was that he was easily led. He’d spend time with his friends and forget about me and Mum. I don’t think he meant to be mean to us, it’s just that he wanted a break from the hunger and the pain and really wanted to get involved with changing the world.’

  Carl sat down and folded his legs. ‘I don’t think I ever met him or I don’t remember him anyway.’

  Amy sat down next to him. ‘During the last few years he was around, he’d never be at home. Mum always worried that he’d found someone else but the reality is that his friends and silly ideas were more important than us. Then one morning we heard a truck outside; the screeching brakes woke me up. They smashed their way into our place and dragged him outside. I stood there frozen to the spot while they hit him with their guns and kicked him unconscious.’

  Carl shook his head. ‘I can’t believe they did that to him. Things have to change soon. We can’t go on like this. We’ll make them pay one day, I promise you. Have you seen or heard anything since?’

  ‘Mum had a letter from someone in the city saying that dad had been executed for terrorism. His clothes and any items he had on him were burnt and that was that. We heard no more,’ she said wiping her eyes with her fingers. ‘So now he’s just one of hundreds of missing people, snatched out of the poor lives they have to be beaten and murdered.’

  Carl nodded. ‘So many people have been taken now it’s hard to keep track. All they do is keep us down and if we stand up we disappear into the clouds never to be seen again.’

  ‘All I’ve got now is Mum so I’d really like to get something to help her. If I lose her I just wouldn’t know what to do.’

  Carl leaned forward and kissed Amy on the lips while wiping a tear away from her cheek with his thumb. ‘We’ll go in soon. Your mum needs medication and we’re going to get her some.’

  Chapter Thirteen

  Carl and Peter climbed into the pipe and then grabbed one of Amy’s hands to pull her in. They slowly made their way along the safest route, avoiding drones along the way until they eventually got to the waste disposal area where the smell was overwhelming and never-ending. They all peered down into the mass of garbage and watched the drones busily carry out their disposal duties.

  ‘I feel sick, I’ve never smelt anything so bad,’ Amy said.

  Carl sniffed the air. ‘You kind of get used to it if you come here often enough. It’s just rotting rubbish. Anything fresh like fruit rots quite quickly down here so you have to grab the good stuff while you can.’

  Amy’s mouth turned down. ‘I don’t care how good the stuff is, I can’t stand this much longer, it’s making my stomach turn.’

  ‘I’m so hungry I’ll eat anything,’ Peter said. ‘I’d rather have a belly of rotten fruit than eat any more of them rotten biscuits.’

  Amy’s eyes started to water as she tried to stop herself from being sick. ‘I’d rather starve to death than eat either of those. Nothing in here smells good enough to eat.’

  ‘Wait until we get down there and start sifting through it. A lot of it’s still packaged and fresh,’ Carl said. He pointed to a door in the wall a little further around the edge of the dump. ‘That’s where we need to go for the medicine. Come on and keep your eyes peeled.’

  Carl looked through the small window in the middle of the door. Inside was a clinically white area with a single computer sitting on a desk and a chair alongside it. Over in the corner was a tall medicine cabinet. He turned the handle and pushed the door with his shoulder but it was electronically locked.

  Amy and Peter scanned the waste dump for any unusual drone behaviour but their presence was still being ignored. He swiped the security pass across the keypad; it clicked and a red light turned to green unlocking the door with an electronic clunk.

  ‘Bingo,’ Carl said pushing the heavy wooden door open. He ushered in the others while looking around to make sure they hadn’t been spotted. Amy and Peter walked in and Carl shut the door behind them.

  ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anywhere so clean and perfect as this, it even smells clean. What is this place?’ Amy said looking around.

  ‘Must be some kind of maintenance area,’ Carl said. ‘Maybe they control the drones that clean the place up from here.’

  Amy pulled open the medicine cabinet. On the bottom shelf were bottles of pills and the middle shelf contained bandages. The top shelf was full of syringes and tubes. ‘This stuff’s worth a fortune,’ she said as she scooped the bottles and bandages into the bag slung over her shoulder.

  ‘Make sure you get antibiotics for your mum. The bandages might come in useful too,’ Carl said.

  ‘I’m taking the lot. What Mum doesn’t use we’ll sell and get her some decent food for a change.’

  Carl pointed to the window. ‘Pete, keep a lookout and make sure nobody else is around and that those drones aren’t taking an interest.’

  Carl tapped the keyboard and the computer screen lit up.

  ‘Do you know what you’re doing, brainbox? I thought we were just coming here for medicine and other good stuff,’ Peter said.

  Carl glanced up. ‘We are but I want to see if I can find out more information about what makes this place tick. Good stuff is what we need but information is valuable too.’

  ‘What information? Peter said. ‘We’re in the middle of the Crystal City stealing stuff. The only information we need is the quickest way out of here before we’re caught and mushed into food tablets.’

  ‘Calm down, ladies. I just need another five minutes and we’ll be out of here,’ Carl said.

  He started to look through the folders on the computer and noticed that each one was logically named and in alphabetical order. Most of the information related to the regular garbage disposal tasks, such as collection, compacting or incineration. He navigated to a higher folder level which gave more general information about the city. ‘This looks much more interesting.’

  Amy looked out of the window. ‘Please hurry, I’m getting a bad feeling about this.’

  Carl noticed a folder called ‘The Cleansing’ and opened it up. Inside were spreadsheets and diagrams relating to some future event. He opened up one spreadsheet which was a population prediction graph. It started high at several million and quickly dropped to zero. ‘Oh no,’ Carl said.

  Peter looked around. ‘What’s up?’

  Carl then opened up another document that gave details about a weapon that would cleanse the city. ‘This isn’t making much sense but there are some figures and predictions here about the city population when the cleansing happens.’

  ‘What cleansing?’ Amy said.

  Carl stepped back and shook his head. ‘The cleansing of the Wretches. This isn’t the last city on Earth where all the survivors live like they keep telling us, it’s a death camp. We’re all going to be killed, wiped out.’ />
  ‘What?’ Amy said. ‘What’s the point in that? Why would the Cloud people want to kill everyone including themselves?’

  Carl shook his head. ‘They’re not going to kill themselves, they’re building some kind of ark for the rich.’

  Pete ducked down. ‘Quick, someone’s coming!’

  Carl turned the computer screen off and went underneath the table. Peter and Amy pressed themselves against the door to try to stay out of view of the window.

  ‘Who is it? Carl mouthed.

  Peter looked up as the figure in black peered through the window. The door handle turned and all three looked at each other wide-eyed. Carl’s heart thumped in his chest as the door beeped, the lock disengaged and the door opened.

  Peter pulled the door open and pushed past the Black Hat guard.

  ‘Hey stop,’ he shouted as he raised his weapon.

  Amy pushed past, following Peter, and Carl was close behind and threw a punch on his way out, hitting the guard flush on the jaw. The soldier staggered backwards from the blow.

  A deafening short burst of gunfire rang out as more Black Hats entered the refuse area. Peter stopped and gripped his thigh. The pain seared through his leg from the bullet that had torn through the flesh, and blood started to spurt through his fingers. He staggered as another round hit him in the shoulder, spinning him round and throwing him onto the floor.

  ‘Pete, no!’ Amy screamed.

  Peter staggered to his feet. The pain and weakness from the blood loss was overwhelming as he stepped backwards towards the edge. His vision turned into a narrowing black tunnel as he fell backwards. Carl grabbed his hand to stop him falling into the waste dump below. He lay on his front, holding Peter by the wrist to stop him falling down.

  ‘Hold on, Pete, stay awake,’ Carl shouted.

  Amy stood nearby with her hands over her mouth as a Black Hat approached. Carl grimaced as he tried to pull Peter back up but he was too heavy. He turned round as the shadow of the guard crossed over him, and watched the butt of the gun descending and crashing into the side of his head, and it all went black.