2634: Dalmore

Chapter 19

We counted putting on the tenth Mutant tag before losing track of how many Mutants we'd tagged. In what feels like an eternity but turns out to be only a few hours (according to the clock in the furnace room). Dawn turns to day, but there isn't time to ponder what occurred prior to our sticky situation we are currently trapped in. Now being pursued by a gang of five mutants, three of whom have been tagged is no holiday. Unfortunately our door trick doesn't work in this scenario because all the doors are locked. “What the hell do we do now?” Kyle yells. I look around for anything to help us out, but all I can see is blank walls and doors. Behind us the famished and angered Mutants start to gain on us. How the hell did we last this long here like this.
“There! I yell pointing out to the distance. We're nearing a dead end, in other circumstances this is a death sentence but on the top of the wall there is a vent. “When we are close to it we have to jump and grab onto the railing,” I tell him. Kyle looks doubtful but there is no other choice... well there is the chopped into minced meat option but either of us would want that. Now a meter away from the vent, I jump up and grab the left side of the vent, giving Kyle enough room to latch onto. Now dangling off the vent railing, the Mutants decide to jump up to seek their prey. Us. On one particular jump of one giant rat looking Mutant, I could feel it’s breath on my ankle, centimeters away from biting it. I risk letting go of one arm, holding my entire weight with the other. My arm aches as I reach into my pocket to pull out a small piece of wire. I quickly adjust this into a screw looking end. I place both arms back onto the vent to regain my strength, looking over to Kyle, his face perplexes, struggling to stay still. I jam the wire into one of the bolts and unscrew it. The nail falls on the ground below, the Mutants taking sudden interest in it. I reach over to Kyle’s side and do the nail on his side but keep the nail in. “I’m going to unscrew this and when I do so, you climb in, I’ll be right behind you,” He nods, face red. I pull the screw out, I feel the vent rail weakening as Kyle pulls himself into the vent. I grab the inside of the vent for support. When he is in completely, I climb in as well.
I take a second to calm down and take a deep breath, hearing the thumps, hisses and growls of the Mutants bagging on the walls as I do so. Kyle is crawling forwards to my right, so I decide to follow him. While I’m doing so I smell a pungent smell, “Ew!” I exclaim.
“Sorry, I had baked beans for breakfast. My mum also said that I fart when I’m scared,” Kyle mutters. As I hold my breath for Kyle’s fart to go away as the Mutants hisses and growls fade away. A few turns and farts later, “Over here!” Kyle says when we stop at a vent intersection. I look over to where Kyle points at, lights seeping through the bars of the vent. Down below is a warehouse, much larger than where Kyle’s dad used to work. And in that warehouse, about thirty people are tied with duct tape at the mouth, legs and arms. One person stands out from the rest of the hostages, a blonde haired and freckled girl. Zion.
“We’ve got to get them!”
“Shh. We can’t,” Kyle hisses. He points to the twenty guards standing around them.
“Then we draw them out, lock them out of the warehouse and get to the hostages,” I suggest.
“How are we going to do that?”
“One of us knocks on the door, the other goes to rescue them. We knock out the guards and then boom, all done! Easy peasy,”
“I’m not sure how things are done in Veritas or Acres Valley for that matter but I’m pretty sure it's not that easy,”
“Fine, I’ll go save them, you go knock,” I settle. Kyle nods in agreement. He takes the opposite intersection to the entrance of the warehouse. As I think of ways to get in through the vent without killing myself, I spot a couch near Zion where one of the guards is sitting on. I could signal one of them to free each other and drag the couch over so I could get to them. Then hopefully Kyle will knock on the door and run away, and I’ll be waiting for the guards to notice me. After pulling off the vent rails, I gently tap the side of the vent, hopefully loud enough for Zion to look at me, but quiet enough for the guards to dismiss the sound. Zion looks around until she finally spots me, I point to the couch. She looks at it and back at me, I point back at the spot underneath me and mouth the words ‘later’. A while later, I see the guards get up, exchanging looks with each other. I can see their lips moving in conversation but I can't hear a word of what they’re saying.
One of them opens the door. Looking left and right, a lot of them are confused about who was just at the door. About ten of them leave, shutting the door behind them. I silently hope that Kyle is OK. Minutes go by and Kyle is distracting them well enough for Zion to untie herself and a few others. They wait for a couple more minutes to catch the remaining guards zoning out. Zion jumps up kicking the nearest guard in the nuts. The man kneells down on the ground, groaning. The other guards’ attention snaps to Zion, then the other get up. After many kicks and punches are thrown at both sides, Zion manages to tie up the guards.
Zion looks up at me, she pushes the couch to the spot under me. I unscrew the bolts of the vent and jump down.
Landing on my head, I sit up straight, shaking my head in place. “What are you doing here?” Zion exclaims.
“No time for talking, we’ve got to get going,” I say, opening the door. “I’m going to knock out the guards-”
Before I finish the word, Kyle opens the door. “They got eaten up by the Mutants,” He looks resonantly happy that he doesn’t have to deal with them. “I guess those Mutants aren't that bad,” Kyle shrugs,
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!” Zion says, moving over to the rest of the hostages to untie them. I do the same, grabbing the wire I used to unscrew the vent to free the rest of the hostages from the duct tape.
After we free the last one of the hostages I speak up over the commotion of the people. “C’mon let's go,” As I open the door, I can hear no sounds of the Mutants but just as a precaution, “We have to be quiet, there's Mutants roaming the place. If we creep around, stay quiet and together, I think we’ll make it out alive,” To some people it only made it worse, to the others they muffle their distress and/or sobs.
“Everyone ready?” Zion calls out. A round of ‘yes’s and nods go around and I take the first foot outside. Only to realize that I had no idea where we’re going. I look to Kyle who nods and takes the lead. Taking two steps ahead of me, he points to the left. As we follow him, the crowd quietens. My heart strums against my chest, what if one of these people gets hurt? It’ll surely be my fault.  As we pass every corner along the way, I feel like something is watching us. My paranoia keeps me on my toes every time I stick in the middle between two of the hostages, Zion at the back and Kyle obviously at the front.
“We should stop here,” Kyle says, standing at his father’s old workplace. “...to get weapons, obviously,” He says, when he sees my glare. Don’t get me wrong, as sentimental as it is to stop at his father’s old workplace, we are on a run from evil monsters that want to turn us into human sushi but we really do need weapons. Kyle swings the door open and I go inside, Zion and the other hostages follow me in as I grab a couple of guns and stuff as many as I can in my pocket. Across me is something that really catches my eye. I don't think I saw this last time I came here. It is a small knife left untouched on one of the tables. It has a sleek black blade and a leather handle, at the base something is scrawled on. I bring it closer to the light, which by the way is flashing on and off like the rest of the building. The word ‘Merrick’ was etched at the bottom. How had I not noticed this knife last time I came here? The handle fits perfectly into my hands. I stab the air to see how it feels, light, flexible and dangerously small, the perfect weapon. When I look up, everyone is staring at me.
“It’s just a good knife,” I mumble, stuffing it in my pocket, “Well if we’re all done here, lets go!” As everyone forwards to the door.
On my way out, Zion stands next to me, “Real chill,” She laughs. I don't have enough time to respond because Kyle shushes me. Cutting another corner, I don't get my paranoia back because my mind never leaves the thought of the knife, especially how my last name managed to get here. I know my parents died here, but why was the knife in that furnace room? As curious as I am, I decide to unwind. Despite the fact that I should be on my toes, I am exhausted.
But there is no time to be tired, but what I desperately need right now is a nice, long nap. Besides if something happened everyone would freak out and I’d snap out of it. I put my hand around the knife giving it a squeeze, even though it's only been a couple of minutes, I feel moderately attached to it. It’s like getting a new toy, only this toy is the best thing that I own which could kill you in seconds if I maim it right. Not long later, Kyle says in a calm and slow manner, "I need you all to calm down and not say anything." Looking ahead, I can see four slim and long antennas peeking around the corner from where we are standing at the crossroads. We all freeze for a moment for the Mutant to make another movement. It makes a hissing sound before the antennas disappear back around the corner. I move ahead of the group to check if the Mutant is gone, thankfully I see it scuttling to another corner away from us. Kyle is taking this war thing really well, he’s improved a lot since we’ve been locked here. Maybe it's just because he’s exposed to these hungry devils.
In other news, we tiptoe around for a further couple of minutes until we stop at another familiar door, well not really. All the doors look the same, except for the warehouse doors, they’re ginormous. This door I remember because we’ve been through it three times. “We’re here,” Kyle says, confirming my thoughts. Thankfully by the time we pull open the doors, there are no Mutants running berzerk around the Mutant room where they were originally contained. I guess they didn't like it in that room at all. When we’re all in the room we close the door behind us just in case any Mutants spot their prey. The vent is still wide open from where we left it when we entered. 
I walk to the vent, the rest following behind me, “We have to climb down this vent hatch, it’s going to be dark down there so we’ve got to stick close and use voice signals to communicate to each other. Be careful, though, not to speak too loudly, those Mutants might hear,” I tell them, before ducking down into the vent. Climbing to the bottom, I hear thunks on the fixed ladder, signalling the first of the hostages moving down. As I stand by at the bottom for everyone else, I hear hushed whispers go around. The conversation is mostly of curiosity or worry.
When everyone gets down, I hear Zion saying, “We’re all clear,”
“We’re moving forwards now, away from the ladder, that is,” I tell everyone, in what I hope is a clear voice. As I take a step forwards, a wave of melancholy washes over me as I recall Angrove's body at our departure. It's almost as if I'm under a spell; the closer I get to her, the more I think about her. But of course none of these people know that Angrove has passed, I imagine the shock on their faces. I can't think of her though, what I need to think about is how to get these people to safety. Like the last time I escaped, I hear water dripping, the metal clanking together but instead of chatter above me, I hear hisses. I run my hand along the walls for a door. The rough brick wall feels cool against my sweaty hand. When I hit my hand on something metallic, I pull my arm back, wincing in pain. “Stop!” I tell everyone, pulling open the door on my left. The first thing I spot is what I’ve been thinking about the majority of this walk. Angrove. When everyone crowds into the room, they find Angrove sprawled on the floor.
“She-”
“What happened-” The multiple voices splutter.
“Here,” Kyle says, opening the door on the other side. Everyone, in shock, walks out but some stay for a while until Kyle tells them to leave, noticing that my eyes never leave Angrove’s body. He shuts the door for a little bit of privacy, something I’ve not had for a while. Then goes to the door we just entered through, also shutting that door behind him.
“You gotta tell me what happened,” Zion says, moving over to Angrove’s body, “It’s only been a couple of hours since I last saw you and your whole worlds been turned upside down,”
“Well where do I start,” I give a rueful smile, “First of all I got kidnapped and taken hostage and then we busted out and Angrove died and then-”
“What? How are you not dead already?”
“I honestly don't know. But I do know is that Angrove would’ve wanted us to survive,”
“Yeah-” Then it happened. It happened all too fast. All I remember is the walls crushing in, up and around Zion and Angrove. Dust is everywhere and the stones fly everywhere, I cough constantly, shading my eyes with my hands. Through the small gap in my hands, I see two yellow eyes and a massive body. Before I know it, Kyle opens the door behind me, pulling me back and locking the door.
“Wh-”
“Shh, I don't know what the hell happened but at least we’re safe-”
I cut of Kyle, “Z-Zion, she was in there and then,”
“She’s with Angrove, she’s going to be OK,” And then it hit me. She was gone. Gone. It was all too soon, she can’t have- the tears stream down my face too fast. I didn't get to say goodbye.
“We have to get to Alec, Adria,”
I don't know what happens next, it’s that numbness you get when someone dies. At first you're in denial, like it never happened. But then it hits you out of the blue, she died. Then you don't know what happens after that, it’s like getting drunk on depression. I don't remember walking to Alec, I don't remember if we encountered any Mutants or not. I don't remember. It was the same when Angrove died. Both of them left on the same day at the same place.
“If this works, it’s going to be so cool!” Alec says excitedly, fiddling with the Tab in his hands but whatever it was it couldn't get Zion back. Nothing could. Kyle is outside guarding the door, maybe he’s next. Alec is busy working away with his new found reading glasses ajar. He looked just like one of those nerds in those movies before The War. Whereas I stand around, looking much worse than him. “Hey, pass me the USB over there,” Alec asks, not giving me any direction as to where it is. I look around the room, there are USB’s littered everywhere, how am I supposed to find which is which.
“Which one?” I ask.
“The USB,” He repeats, again eyes glued to the screen. I pick up a red one and hand it to him. “I said,The USB,” I look around the room for the second time, I look through the USB’s when I find one that says ‘The USB’.
“This?” I ask.
He looks up, adjusting his reading glasses, “Yes,” The seconds begin to tick away, seconds turning into minutes, minutes turning to hours. Beep beep. “Aha! Behold, our escape route!” Alec jumps up in triumph. Kyle opens the door to look for what the fuss has been about. I shrug in response.
“So uh, buddy, you gonna tell us what that does?” Kyle asks.
“Watch,” He clicks a button on the screen. Nothing happens at first, seconds pass when I hear a blaring loud siren. I clamp my hands to my ears, not that it does anything, the two boys do the same. The noise penetrates deep into my skull, surely giving me a migraine by the time this stops. That is if it stops.
“What the hell?” I scream at him, but my scream is muffled by the siren. Another minute ticks by, the sound decreasing. When the siren stops I lower my hands. Then I hear it, a wail. Not the wail of a siren, an actual wail, that of a Mutant’s. Alec runs past the opened door and the shocked Kyle. Following him out, I hear wails that begin and end at different times. Overall, it sounds like a flop of a musical ensemble. “Alec come back, we’re going to get killed!” I yell behind him, but he is still running. It’s strange that the Mutants haven't decided to chase us. Especially now that we’re out in the open, to mention it, I haven't seen one of them in a long time since Zion’s death. Then that’s when I see it, right in front of Alec. It’s a massive wolf or a dog, I can’t tell but it looks like a schipperke. It is the size of half the height of the roof. It’s back arches back like an elderly lady’s, it is just as skinny too. My eyes widen at the sight. Alec holds up his hand in a surrender like motion and edges his way to it. The Mutant most shockingly dips its head down, like a bow. Alec lets out a yelp of joy. He continues to bring forward his hand, I reach into my pocket for my knife. The schipperke doesn't make a move, instead Alec starts stroking it's matted black fur. After a while, it brings it’s head back up, looking at us with it’s blood red eyes viciously. I pull out my knife.
“Don’t,” Alec says. I don't know who he’s talking to but the schipperke looks at Alec and I put my knife down. “Show me to the entrance,” Alec says whilst also dialling something on his Tab. Seconds later, Mutants of all sorts and sizes move in towards us. The schipperke turns his back on us and takes a few steps forward. It looks back, signalling us to follow it.
“How did you do that?” I ask Alec, getting closer to him.
“Science is my magic,” He responds. Looking behind me, the Mutants look suddenly less vicious than before; like a spell is cast on them. To anyone watching, we must look outright crazy but I have no idea what’s happening. The schipperke comes to a halt and steps aside for Alec as we approach a colossal entrance. Around it is chiseled with pearl looking stones blending in with the white marble doors. At the top is engraved in gold reading, ‘THE ACCEPTED IMPERIAL COMMONWEALTH ’ Directly underneath it are the door handles, also gold. Alec pulls on the door, his weak muscles straining on the weight of the marble doors but I can't help snickering. Alec’s face glows tomato red, using up all his muscle. The schipperke, noticing this, grabs the handle in its mouth and tugs. The hallways flood with the ever glowing light of outside. It must be midday
“Heh, thanks buddy,” Alec says to the dog, patting it on it’s head. Down below us, at the last step of the marble staircase are the hostages. At first there is only silence, some gaping mouths and then there is a complete panic mode. Some people are frozen still, others running away screaming. Others do both. I walk down the staircase, on the left of me is Pearson. Her mouth ajar, aiming a gun at the dog. “No! Stop!” Alec yells, catching Pearson off guard.
“What? These are Mutants, how have they not eaten you yet?”
“Don't shoot, I’ll explain later,” Alec says, showing some strange affection towards the dog. We run down the remaining stairs, to where Pearson gestures.
“Keep those Mutants back in that building,” She says. She gives a disapproving glance at the Mutants.
“I’m bringing Benji,” Alec says.
“Benji?” The three of us ask. Alec points to the dog.
After a long glance at the dog, Pearson says “Fine,”
“I wasn't asking,” Alec says. He presses a button on his Tab and the rest of the Mutants retreat back into the GCI. Pearson is already meters ahead of us. When we finally catch up with her, what we see is a whole camp ready, with a couple of tents and medical boxes. This camp looks like its for the hostages who are injured. Some of the hostages are seriously injured from the collapsed floor but some are unharmed and tending to others. Pearson gestures to a tent and I go in. Alec motions ‘Benji’ to stay put outside the tent.
“So let's get started. I want to know what happened exactly,” Pearson says almost instantly, “Why you were here and not in Veritas where you should have been,” And that is where the long story begins. Fifteen minutes later after recapping everything that happened Pearson looks to us, “You have been really stupid,”
“Anything else?” I ask.
“A bit of good news, apart from Zion no one else has died from the collapsed floor. When we win this we’re going to have to make a memorial,”
“If we win,” Kyle corrects, only to receive a stare from Angrove.
I wait around to expect a long lecture but all she says is “Well Kyle, thank you for your service to our cause,” I wait around for her to say something else, “We’ve got plenty of work to do, shoo!” Hastily, I crawl out of the tent. Almost instantly, Alec instantly goes off to Benji, who wags his tail fondly at Alec. As Benji does so, a gust of wind sweeps people behind him off their feet. “Oh, Adria, if you don't mind, why don't you go off and help tent number six? I hear it's gnarly over there but they need more volunteers,” Pearson says with her head popping out of the gap in the tent flaps. Now as I look closer at the tents I realize they have small numbers at the top.
Finding the tent with the little number six at the top, I am not prepared for what will happen but I’m expecting the worst. With that being said, I stand in front of the tent and knock on one of the poles for someone to enter me in. A while later when no one arrives, I duck through the flaps. The first thing I notice is the stench of rotten blood, then the moaning man lying to the right of me. His moans are mixed with the songs on the radio on the small foldable table. Initially, the man looks OK at first but when I look lower at his leg, it’s been ripped off. Two people are gathered around him, giving him sedatives and anything that could help him. One of them looks at me, “Pearson’s sent us another helper!”
“Wait-” The other says.
“Isn't that-” They say, their gaze stuck in a trance.
“What can I help with?” I ask.
“Oh right,” The first person shakes their head, coming out of his trance “Here, come help me bandage it up,” He holds out a roll of bandages. “Put it around the injury tightly. If this ever ends he’ll need a prosthetic leg,” I take it out of his hand and move closer to the man’s leg. His moaning softens as the sedatives work on him. I can't help thinking if Zion was on the other side of the door all she would have lost is her leg instead of her life. I hastily wrap the bandages around his leg, most of the blood has been soaked up by the sponges and  water buckets. All that is left is a rotten pinkish colour of the flesh. It’s a miracle that he’d been alive for this long at most. The other two people start tending to his other injuries, such as the nasty gash on his upper left arm. As I finish up with bandaging him up, the radio crackles to a holt.
I hear a familiar voice, “Help, he’s got me. He’s got me at the dam. Somebody help! Please, I’ve only got a few minutes left until he comes back. Somebody please help me!” The two people tending the man don't react at all to the help signal at all. Not even a look of worry press their faces. I think back to the voice, his voice sounds familiar but I can't put a finger on it. It hits me. I finish up bandaging the man and rush out of the tent. Soren.