The DOOM Chronicles

Chapter 17: Tricks & Traps

"Harper, you remember that woman I showed up with, Taylor?" Jack asked. They'd backtracked and doubled around the courtyard. It was, as Jack had suspected, not part of the original architecture, and he didn't like how it was already becoming a little more difficult to navigate Haydenfield. How long before he had to piss away an hour trying to find an alternate route or some way through a new hellscape region?

"Yeah," Harper replied. The kid had been quiet so far. He seemed shaken but ultimately still all there, not dazed out like some guys after they ran into their first real combat. He didn't think it was his first battle, but fighting demons might as well be.

"You seen her? Heard from her since we dropped into Haydenfield?"

"No...sorry," he replied. "Are you, uh, with her?"

"Yeah," Jack muttered. That was still bugging him but there was nothing he could do about it right now, and he still had to focus on his job. Now that he had Harper, he wanted to get this fucking booster turned on. Then maybe he could contact Jennifer. But there was something else that was bugging him that he could deal with.

They were moving through a derelict power distribution room, the walls full of dials and monitors and other tech equipment that Jack couldn't readily identify. It was empty, looking relatively untouched by the horror that had swept Haydenfield, and as they approached the door that would take them to the next area where they could access the node from, Jack stopped.

"What is it?" Harper replied immediately, looking around.

"We need to talk," Jack said.

"Uh...what about?" Harper replied, staring at him anxiously.

He frowned, considering how to approach this without coming off like a total asshole or arrogant prick. Finally, he just decided to approach it like how he approached everything in his life: full frontal assault and bluntly.

"I'm getting the impression that you think I'm fucking amazing at killing demons, would you say that's right?" he asked.

"I mean, yeah, obviously," Harper replied uncertainly, like he thought he was being quizzed with a trick question. "...why?"

"I don't want you to rely on me. What I mean by that is, obviously I'm going to watch your back. Right now, it's my job, but I'm not omnipotent. We've started coming across demons hiding in wall panels that just pop up out of nowhere, and it always surprises me, even though I try to be ready for it. My point is this: don't let your guard down by relying too much on me." He paused. "I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, I'm just trying to head off any problems I see. I'm good, probably great, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't good enough to keep Bidwell alive."

"Oh God, Bidwell's dead?"

"Yes. That's why I had to come get you. Bidwell turned on the booster, and then a wall panel opened up behind him, one of those big bulldog things stepped out and bit his head off. There was nothing I could do. So...you know, keep alert," Jack said.

"I, uh, yeah...okay, yeah," he replied, looking around nervously.

Jack suppressed the urge to sigh. That was probably about as much as he could do. He turned back to the doorway. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Harper replied, and Jack was glad to hear some more steel in his voice. He was a Marine, after all.

They approached the door. Jack waited, listened, but heard nothing. He hit the button. The door slid up, revealing...an empty octagonal room. Slowly, they walked inside. Overhead, a square had been cut out of the ceiling, letting the red light of the Firewall leak into the room. There were silver metal walls and an oddly blue carpeting and nothing else in the room.