Beyond the Crystal City

by Logan Brookfield

Carl pushed open the door to the stairwell and leaned over the railings, looking up and down. There were no Black Hats in sight so he grabbed Amy’s hand and started to descend the stairs. It would take longer to get to the weapon level this way but using the elevator was too risky as there were still patrols in the city.

  ‘Wait,’ Amy said after a short while, holding the side railing and gripping her abdomen. ‘I can’t go any further, I’m in pain.’

  ‘OK, let’s rest for a moment,’ Carl said. ‘We’re nearly there anyway.’

  Amy walked much slower down the remaining stairs as Carl walked in front of her, holding her hand. As they approached the weapons level, the fresh cool air they’d been breathing was replaced with hot polluted air, pumped into this level from outside to cool the reactor and fuel cells of the device. They both coughed and wiped their watering eyes.

  At the bottom of the stairs was a large metal door with a small electronic numerical keypad on the right-hand side. It had a radiation warning sign hanging above it and one small window gave a view into the area within. It was a large hangar-type space with high ceilings. Pipes of all shapes and sizes ran around the walls and huge metallic storage tanks sat in each corner. In the middle of this area was another small room. It was made of glass or plastic and was completely see-through on all sides. Sitting in the middle of the floor was the device, a round hunk of metal covered in lights and wires about the size of an oil drum. Standing outside of the room were two heavily armed soldiers.

  ‘We’ll never get past them,’ Amy said as she sat down on the last step.

  ‘We’ve got to,’ Carl said. ‘If we don’t do something now everything will be gone, including us. We need to create a diversion and get one of the guards to open this door.’

  Carl looked around. In the corner of the stairwell was a fire hose and within a glass case an axe. Using his elbow he smashed the glass and unfastened the axe from its holding straps. ‘I’ll bang the door and attract their attention. You look through the window and call them over. Hopefully just one will come as they won’t want to leave the bomb unattended. When he approaches the door run up the stairs and call for help. He’ll hopefully open the door and follow you. I’ll do the rest.’

  Amy nodded and stood on her tiptoes to peer through the glass. Carl took the blunt end of the axe and hit the metal door hard three times. The metallic thuds echoed up the stairwell and seemed to resonate through the whole city. The two guards looked at each other as Amy beckoned them over with her hand.

  ‘One of them is coming,’ she said.

  ‘OK, start making your way up the stairs and keep calling him,’ Carl said hiding himself beneath the stairs.

  The door control beeped twice as the electronic lock disengaged with a heavy clunk. Carl’s heart pounded in his chest and sweat dripped onto the blade of the fire axe. He had one chance to take the guard by surprise, one chance to swing the axe as hard and as accurately as he could. If he missed, it would be all over for everyone.

  The guard stepped through the doorway. ‘Who is that? What are you still doing here? The last civilian shuttle is about to leave,’ he said as he placed a foot on the first step. He gripped the stock of his weapon and craned his neck to see up the stairs.

  ‘Please come quick, please help,’ Amy shouted.

  Carl flexed his fingers and gripped the axe handle tight. He took a deep breath then rushed out from under the stairs, took four steps and swung the heavy weapon high and hard with all the strength he could muster. The sharp silver blade crashed into the Black Hat’s right shoulder sending him reeling as he crumpled onto the floor screaming in agony. Carl raised the axe again and brought it down with all his might as it smashed through the guard’s helmet and silenced his cries. Carl stepped back and released the handle of the axe, which was still buried in the guard’s skull.

  Amy stood at the top of the stairs with her hand covering her mouth then frantically pointed towards the door. The second guard had been alerted by the screams and was now running in their direction.

  Carl pulled the machine gun off the dead body and aimed it at the doorway. He gripped the stock with one hand and held the short barrel with the other. Adrenalin surged through his arteries and he could feel his knees and arms shaking.

  The guard ran into the stairwell as Carl pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The trigger was stiff and there was no click. Carl stared at the gun then back at the guard as time seemed to slow down. There was nothing he could do but wait for the shot as the guard raised his weapon. He pulled the trigger and there was a loud clunk, but no shot. The guard’s gun had jammed and he frantically pulled at the bolt action trying to free the stuck round. Carl looked at the gun he was holding and noticed that the safety lever was still engaged. He flicked the lever and pulled at the trigger. A short and deafening burst of three shots rang out hitting the guard in his mid-section. His body stiffened as he fell backwards, dead before he hit the floor.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Amy said, her ears ringing from the noise.

  Carl took the extra magazines from the body. ‘Let’s be quick, I don’t think there’s much time,’ he said.

  Amy ran down the stairs and stepped over the two bodies. She tried to avoid the growing pool of scarlet-coloured blood but one foot stepped in it. Carl took her hand and helped her into the weapon room. He slung the machine gun over his shoulder and walked towards the square glass box holding the bomb. It appeared to be made from one huge thick piece of laminated glass. He rapped his knuckles against it and felt the solid mass. The only place that the glass did not seem to be in one piece was a door. To the right of it was a keypad and he punched in various combinations of four-digit codes but the door remained firmly locked.

  Suddenly an automated computerised countdown message blared out over a loudspeaker, together with a loud siren. All military personnel to the final shuttle. The final shuttle will leave in 15 minutes. The city will be destroyed in 60 minutes. The option to override the detonation will expire in 15 minutes.

  Carl took the machine gun off his shoulder. ‘Step back, I need to try and get through this thing.’

  Amy closed her eyes and shielded her ears as Carl raised the weapon and fired a short burst at the glass. The bullets ricocheted off and left no impact. He then hit the control keypad with the butt of the weapon but the keypad was undamaged and the door remained firmly shut.

  ‘We can’t get to it, can we?’ she said.

  Carl looked around. ‘I don’t think we can. This chamber is designed to keep everyone out when the bomb’s armed.’

  He ran back to where he’d killed the Black Hats and grabbed the axe, then ran back into the bomb room and looked at the mass of pipes running around the walls and disappearing into shiny metal tanks.

  ‘These have got to be something to do with the weapon,’ he said gripping the axe with both hands.

  He took a swing at one of the storage tanks and made a dent in it. He took another swing and ruptured the outer shell. Water started to gush out and spread rapidly across the floor.

  ‘If we can’t damage it, we’ll drown it,’ Carl said.

  He took more swings at the other tanks and the pipes that ran around the walls, causing more coolant to gush out. They were now ankle-deep in water and Carl noticed that water was beginning to seep through into the bomb chamber and pool around the foot of the device.

  ‘Will that be enough?’ she said.

  ‘No idea, but it’s the best we can do. We can’t do much more, let’s get out of here. We need to get as far away as we can. If we can’t beat them then we’ll try and make sure they don’t win,’ he said grabbing Amy by the hand.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Carl pushed open a heavy iron door that led into the detention area, a long dimly lit corridor with prison cells on either side. Riot control gear, such as helmets, shields and batons hung on the wall just inside, and small black and white CCTV monitors built into the wall gave grainy views of the area from different angles. A small ta
ble and chair was where the guard sat and on the table was a newspaper, mug of coffee and a half-eaten sandwich. The smell of humans who were kept like animals was overwhelming. Someone had left the area in a hurry.

  ‘This must be the detention area,’ Carl said.

  Moaning and crying came from the first cell as they slowly walked towards it. There was no choice but to go through the prison block to get out of the building. As they passed cell number one they could see someone chained to the wall in the shadows. Carl stepped closer and looked through the bars. A large figure was chained star-shaped to rings on the wall by his wrists and ankles. His face was so swollen and covered in blood it was hard to tell if he was alive or dead.

  ‘Carl, help me,’ the man mumbled as blood-red saliva dribbled and hung from his mouth.

  Carl looked closer and pulled at the bars but the door was locked. ‘Thomas?’

  The man nodded slowly. ‘I’m sorry, Carl.’

  Amy looked around for the door release but couldn’t see it. She could hear the sound of Black Hat boots outside and shut the main door, sliding the large metal bolt across. The Black Hats started hitting the metallic door with the butt of their rifles, creating a deafening clanging noise.

  ‘We need to get out of here,’ she said.

  Carl looked around frantically for the door release control as other prisoners were now pushing their arms through the bars and becoming more vocal.

  ‘Amy?’ the voice said from further down. ‘Amy, is that you?’

  Amy slowly walked down the corridor towards the voice, avoiding the outreached arms of the other inmates. She looked into the cell and saw a thin man with a long beard sitting on the floor, covered in blood. He dragged himself along the cell floor and into a pool of light and gripped the bars with both hands as he looked up.

  ‘Dad?’ she said.

  ‘Amy,’ he whispered. ‘It is you, what are you doing here?’

  ‘I can’t believe it, I thought you were dead,’ she said squatting down and holding his hand through the bars.

  ‘They’ve as good as killed me. What’s left is just an empty shell, but I’m glad I lived long enough to see your beautiful face again. You know you’ll always be my baby.’

  Tears flowed down Amy’s cheeks and dripped onto the floor. ‘Come with us, I’ll get you out of here.’

  ‘It’s too late for me now, save yourself.’

  Carl found the door release. Each cell was controlled by a button beneath a light. There was also a master button to open all cells at the same time.

  ‘Open cell forty-two,’ Amy shouted.

  Carl searched the array of lights and buttons. ‘OK, I’ll try and find it.’

  Sparks began to appear on the inside of the metal door as the Black Hats outside started to cut their way through the bolt. Carl hit the button underneath number forty-two, then ran down the corridor as the cell door gave a clunk then slid open.

  ‘Carl, this is my dad,’ Amy said.

  Carl knelt down and extended his hand. ‘I’m pleased to meet you, sir. Please come with us, we don’t have much time.’

  A frail bloody hand accepted the handshake. ‘Nice to meet you, son, you can call me Bernard.’

  The other inmates now started to shout and scream, begging to be released.

  ‘We’ve not got much time, they’re almost through the bolt,’ Carl said helping Bernard to stand up.

  ‘Give me that, son,’ Bernard said pointing to the machine gun slung over Carl’s shoulder. ‘You get her out of here and look after her and I’ll delay them for as long as I can.’

  Amy threw her arms around her dad. ‘I want you to come with us, I want to save you.’

  Bernard squeezed her tight. ‘You already have.’

  Carl handed the machine gun to Bernard and took Amy’s hand. ‘Let’s go, quick, they’re coming through.’

  The cutting tools had turned the inside of the metal door white-hot as the Black Hats were almost through the main bolt.

  ‘Dad, I can’t leave you,’ she said crying as Carl pulled her away.

  Bernard readied the machine gun and limped to the top end of the detention level. The regular beatings and cramped cell had taken their toll on him. He located the main button to open all of the cell doors and pressed it. ‘Go now, please,’ he shouted as each cell door slowly slid open, one after the other.

  Carl pulled Amy through the fire escape doorway at the other end of the room as the Black Hats burst through the main door. Amy looked back as the other inmates poured out of their cells and ran for the main door shrieking and screaming.

  Bernard opened fire, felling the first two Black Hats. The crowd of inmates behind him surged past and into a hail of bullets.

  Amy gripped the door frame as Carl tried to pull her through. She couldn’t take her eyes off her father. Bernard glanced back and signalled for them to keep moving as more Black Hats poured through the door and cut him down with machine gun fire.

  ‘No!’ Amy screamed as Carl pulled her arm away from the door. They continued to make their way through the lower levels of the city towards the exit. Amy sobbed uncontrollably but continued forward knowing it was their only chance of escape.

  The computerised voice blared out over the speaker. The option to override detonation has now expired. The city will be destroyed in 45 minutes.

  Carl led Amy by the hand lower down the city levels until they came to a long corridor which appeared to be a dead end apart from the doors to an elevator. ‘We’ll need to take a risk and take this as it looks like the only way out. We won’t have time to go back,’ he said.

  The city will be destroyed in 30 minutes, the loudspeaker shrieked.

  ‘We’ll never make it,’ Amy said. ‘We’ll never get far enough away from the city.’

  Carl hit the basement level button and the elevator descended. ‘We’re going to try, that’s all we can do,’ he said as they exited into the basement.

  Rows and rows of military vehicles were parked in an underground storage garage for the Black Hats’ water cannon and riot control trucks. Carl yanked open the door of a small two-man patrol car but the keys were missing. He moved onto the next, which was a larger armour-plated riot control vehicle complete with green and black camouflage paintwork, rugged terrain tyres and roof-mounted machine gun. The keys were still in the ignition.

  ‘Do you know how to drive these things?’ Amy asked.

  ‘Jump in,’ Carl said. ‘Do you remember when Cody stole that vehicle about a year back? He showed me how easy they are to drive. It’s just getting used to the steering.’

  He turned the ignition on but nothing happened. He tried again but it was dead and wasn’t going anywhere. ‘Damn it, I wonder if they disabled all their vehicles.’

  Amy looked in the mirror to see if they had been followed. ‘Hurry up, we haven’t got time for this.’

  Carl tried again, the engine turned over and burst into life as a cloud of black smoke filled the rear-view mirror.

  The city will explode in 20 minutes, the electronic voice said as the sirens continued to wail.

  Carl tried to move the gearstick into the drive position. As he did the vehicle lunged backwards and hit a concrete pillar sending masonry and dust crashing down onto the roof.

  ‘Damn it, I’m sorry,’ he said.

  Amy looked at him in horror. ‘You need to work that out really quick or we’re dead.’

  Carl pushed the stick into the correct drive position and pushed his foot to the floor. The large chunky tyres screeched and produced a cloud of white smoke as they gained traction and propelled the riot truck forward. He gripped the steering wheel as the vehicle lurched right then left throwing them both sideways. The steering was heavy and unfamiliar but he managed to keep it straight and followed the painted lines on the floor leading to the exit.

  ‘The door’s closed,’ Amy said noticing the heavy metal security shutters were still down.

  ‘It’s now or never, hold on,’ Carl said as he p
ressed the accelerator to the floor.

  Amy gripped the edge of her seat with both hands. ‘Oh no!’

  The riot truck hit the metal security door with a loud crash and broke through it sending shards of metal corrugated sheeting in all directions. The bright light of the outside temporarily dazzled both of them as the truck sped up the ramp leading to the dirt road. Carl swung a hard left and headed for the projects.

  Amy looked over her shoulder. ‘You’re going the wrong way, we’ll never make it.’

  Hundreds of Wretches filled the streets and it seemed like the whole town was on fire. Rocks bounced off the truck as it tried to pick its way through the crowds as the mob turned its anger towards the truck.

  ‘They’re going to lynch us if they get hold of us. They think we’re Black Hats,’ Carl said as he turned into the street near his house. Every shack and makeshift shelter was ablaze and he could no longer pick out his own house. His attempt to rescue his mum had failed so he hit the accelerator and headed towards Amy’s area. As they rounded the corner the situation was much the same with every shack burning in one big street-sized furnace with no hope of anyone being left alive.

  Amy put her head in her hands as she now knew she’d lost her mum and dad today. ‘Let’s get out of here, please.’

  A Wretch leapt onto the bonnet of the truck and started to smash a metal pipe into the windscreen. Amy screamed as Carl accelerated then braked hard to throw the attacker off. He pushed his foot to the floor and headed for the perimeter fence, building as much speed as he could while avoiding the mass of bodies. He maintained a steady course as the perimeter gate approached. Nobody that they knew had ever ventured outside of the city and depending on which folklore you believed, the outside was toxic and full of two-headed monsters. Any attempt to explore the outer reaches was met with instant death. Nobody had ever left and returned and even the tower dwellers had stopped their outside reconnaissance missions many decades ago.

  The tall steel double gates approached. The guard towers either side, from which so many citizens had been cut down during their hopeless escape attempts, were now empty. ‘Hold on, this is the last gate,’ Carl said as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.