Animal trainers and naturalists will tell you that animals only attack under four conditions. The first, and most obvious, is when they are attacked themselves. Nothing says defense like putting on a good offense, and if animals could talk that’s what they’d tell you. Second, whenever they are threatened in their lair, or something literally comes between them and their offspring, look out. Also, it is common for animals to attack when they are hungry and curious – and not always in that order. Ask a surfer who’s been grazed by a shark and they’ll tell you they didn’t taste right so the shark took a pass. The last situation, both Lester and Dave found themselves approaching – startling an animal, which attacks instinctively first until it can access the threat.
It was late in the day and the two had been following the natural slope of the hillside which led them away from the lake edge. Light was still available, though it was gradually slipping away. There was too much foliage, but there was a slightly defined trail, evidenced by the tread earth. If there was a way down to an entrance from the water, this was not it, or at least, not one that had been used for some time. Dave walked confidently amongst the flora of his youth, earning a scout badge from Lester for his ranger skills as he kept them away from skin-irritating plants and on easy to traverse ground. But it was Lester who noticed the faint streaks of heat exhaust in the not-to-distant skies, warping the tranquil blue with shimmers of distortion.
“We’ve got to be close,” he said, pointing to the spot just beyond the dense cluster of trees in their path. “If that’s not near a proper entrance, there’s got to a vent or duct we can get into. Just tell me there’s no anti-government folks living out here, because I’m gonna be pissed off if that’s some Unibomber cabin and not the location.”
Dave shook his head. “Nobody would come out here for that. Rain runoff down slope would flood it whenever a storm came through, and when they flooded the valley to make the lake, anything worth killing to eat was driven out. With the hills and tree cover, there’s not enough direct sunlight to even put solar panels to get any power, and even if somebody wanted to drag gasoline here for a generator (which is incredibly , we’d have heard it running. Anyone here would starve, drown or be at a disadvantage to survive too long.”
Lester hoped he was right, because he’d started thinking about all the ways to get around the obstacles…building a raised platform for a structure to be put on, using a hand-cranked battery, fishing or farming for food – it was pretty extreme, but Lester found he was becoming more analytical in the absence of Harry, who balanced Lester’s fiery enthusiasm with caution and questions.
Dave stopped abruptly and Lester almost bumped into him, not aware of why or what stopped Bullock in his tracks. Scanning the area, Lester nudged Dave’s arm.
“What is it?”
Dave replied in a softer voice, “Someone’s out here.”
“How do you know,” Lester whispered back.
“Look. At your two-o-clock. Those are clothes and shoes. Over by the tree.”
Sure enough, there was a pile of garments about 25 yards away.
Lester moved over towards a nearby tree and wrestled a bat-sized branch off, plucking a few chutes off to make the wood a weapon and not a leafy instrument. “Let’s go around and hopefully not attract attention.”
They moved slowly away from the clothes and towards the released heat, with Lester putting himself between the pile and Dave. As they came closer there were scattered carcasses of squirrels, first one, than a second, until there were maybe ten or so, torn in half or split open. And fresh. Dave was almost spitting distance from a small, bloodied naked man laying on his back when Lester grabbed his shirt and yanked him back. The two changed course not heading towards the clothing and away from the nude form. They were maybe all the way over to the clothing when a bird overhead squawked. And that was enough to wake the sleeping man.
The man’s eyes opened and saw the two cautiously moving nearby. In an instant he had flipped over and was running at them. Incredibly fast. Lester pushed Dave behind him as he drew the branch staff back to swing once the naked man was within range – and that was momentarily. It was almost involuntary, and instead of letting out a cry, somewhere in the subconscious of Dave Bullock’s mind, something was able to reference and sort through all the incredibly strange events of the last week plus and identified the dark, dirty naked berserker coming at them, and yelped one word.
“Metallica!”
If Dave had been a magician snapping his fingers, there would have been an audience volunteer suddenly coming out of a trance, no longer clucking like a chicken or hopping on one foot. Bronco skidded to a halt and looked at Dave and Lester confused. He understood Metallica. They were a band. A great band. The greatest band. Ever. Metallica was like the voice of God offering command over the horns of angels (not that Bronco thought in that context, but the equivalent concept to him). These strangers had roused him from his post meal-nap, which he needed after chasing down all the tasty snacks he plucked from the trees and shrubs.
Dave said it again, “Metallica. You like Metallica.”
He had to repeat it not only to try and force Bronco to understand he had made the briefest of connections to the memory when they had crossed in the diner bathroom. And also to convince himself that he actually remembered it too, as he had first blurted it out unaware of what he’d said.
“FUCK YEAH. METALLICA!” Bronco smiled, his lips stained with blood and bits of fur and meat still in his teeth.
It was ridiculous to see him here, but considering the oddity Dave asked anyway, “Do you know where the place is? We got lost.”
“HUNTER OF THE SHADOWS IS RISING, BRONCO.”
“Um, yeah. Can you show us the place?”
Bronco ran a short distance away and started pointing. Dave moved closer and saw what Bronco was gesturing at – a small concrete bunker recessed into the earth with several trees growing on the top. The trees had been carefully intertwined with painted tubes, carefully camouflaged in the trunks and branches to hide the exhaust from the underground.
“FACE THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE!”
Lester was dumbfounded. As he should be.
It was late in the day and the two had been following the natural slope of the hillside which led them away from the lake edge. Light was still available, though it was gradually slipping away. There was too much foliage, but there was a slightly defined trail, evidenced by the tread earth. If there was a way down to an entrance from the water, this was not it, or at least, not one that had been used for some time. Dave walked confidently amongst the flora of his youth, earning a scout badge from Lester for his ranger skills as he kept them away from skin-irritating plants and on easy to traverse ground. But it was Lester who noticed the faint streaks of heat exhaust in the not-to-distant skies, warping the tranquil blue with shimmers of distortion.
“We’ve got to be close,” he said, pointing to the spot just beyond the dense cluster of trees in their path. “If that’s not near a proper entrance, there’s got to a vent or duct we can get into. Just tell me there’s no anti-government folks living out here, because I’m gonna be pissed off if that’s some Unibomber cabin and not the location.”
Dave shook his head. “Nobody would come out here for that. Rain runoff down slope would flood it whenever a storm came through, and when they flooded the valley to make the lake, anything worth killing to eat was driven out. With the hills and tree cover, there’s not enough direct sunlight to even put solar panels to get any power, and even if somebody wanted to drag gasoline here for a generator (which is incredibly , we’d have heard it running. Anyone here would starve, drown or be at a disadvantage to survive too long.”
Lester hoped he was right, because he’d started thinking about all the ways to get around the obstacles…building a raised platform for a structure to be put on, using a hand-cranked battery, fishing or farming for food – it was pretty extreme, but Lester found he was becoming more analytical in the absence of Harry, who balanced Lester’s fiery enthusiasm with caution and questions.
Dave stopped abruptly and Lester almost bumped into him, not aware of why or what stopped Bullock in his tracks. Scanning the area, Lester nudged Dave’s arm.
“What is it?”
Dave replied in a softer voice, “Someone’s out here.”
“How do you know,” Lester whispered back.
“Look. At your two-o-clock. Those are clothes and shoes. Over by the tree.”
Sure enough, there was a pile of garments about 25 yards away.
Lester moved over towards a nearby tree and wrestled a bat-sized branch off, plucking a few chutes off to make the wood a weapon and not a leafy instrument. “Let’s go around and hopefully not attract attention.”
They moved slowly away from the clothes and towards the released heat, with Lester putting himself between the pile and Dave. As they came closer there were scattered carcasses of squirrels, first one, than a second, until there were maybe ten or so, torn in half or split open. And fresh. Dave was almost spitting distance from a small, bloodied naked man laying on his back when Lester grabbed his shirt and yanked him back. The two changed course not heading towards the clothing and away from the nude form. They were maybe all the way over to the clothing when a bird overhead squawked. And that was enough to wake the sleeping man.
The man’s eyes opened and saw the two cautiously moving nearby. In an instant he had flipped over and was running at them. Incredibly fast. Lester pushed Dave behind him as he drew the branch staff back to swing once the naked man was within range – and that was momentarily. It was almost involuntary, and instead of letting out a cry, somewhere in the subconscious of Dave Bullock’s mind, something was able to reference and sort through all the incredibly strange events of the last week plus and identified the dark, dirty naked berserker coming at them, and yelped one word.
“Metallica!”
If Dave had been a magician snapping his fingers, there would have been an audience volunteer suddenly coming out of a trance, no longer clucking like a chicken or hopping on one foot. Bronco skidded to a halt and looked at Dave and Lester confused. He understood Metallica. They were a band. A great band. The greatest band. Ever. Metallica was like the voice of God offering command over the horns of angels (not that Bronco thought in that context, but the equivalent concept to him). These strangers had roused him from his post meal-nap, which he needed after chasing down all the tasty snacks he plucked from the trees and shrubs.
Dave said it again, “Metallica. You like Metallica.”
He had to repeat it not only to try and force Bronco to understand he had made the briefest of connections to the memory when they had crossed in the diner bathroom. And also to convince himself that he actually remembered it too, as he had first blurted it out unaware of what he’d said.
“FUCK YEAH. METALLICA!” Bronco smiled, his lips stained with blood and bits of fur and meat still in his teeth.
It was ridiculous to see him here, but considering the oddity Dave asked anyway, “Do you know where the place is? We got lost.”
“HUNTER OF THE SHADOWS IS RISING, BRONCO.”
“Um, yeah. Can you show us the place?”
Bronco ran a short distance away and started pointing. Dave moved closer and saw what Bronco was gesturing at – a small concrete bunker recessed into the earth with several trees growing on the top. The trees had been carefully intertwined with painted tubes, carefully camouflaged in the trunks and branches to hide the exhaust from the underground.
“FACE THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE!”
Lester was dumbfounded. As he should be.
---
There was sobbing on the other side of the wall. It was faint, and she was doped up on serious tranquilizers, but Angie heard sobbing. She tried to open her eyes but they were heavy as boulders. She tried to move her arms and legs, but she didn’t even feel them. There were words gurgling in her throat, but Angie was not able to force them out. The sobbing was replaced by moaning, also faint but recognizable. It would rise and fall, carrying Angie’s consciousness like a piece of driftwood over a wave. She didn’t know how long she had heard it, just that she could. It gave the impression of floating, moving on that wave of sound, even though she felt nothing of her physical form. The disembodied moaning was haunting her like a ghost. It may have been her imagination, but sometimes Angie thought she heard the named “Claude”.
---
Dolph rapped on the outside of the cocoon with his palm. “Can he hear me at all in there,” he asked of the attending labcoats. They gathered together and conferred; the question seemed to create confusion among them and set them off on discussion. Soon there were a half dozen, some wildly waving papers and printouts, others trying to direct their colleagues towards different machines that would prove whatever point they had in mind. Dolph stood there perplexed. He grew impatient and decided to address Harry anyway, expecting that his words were none but his own.
“Harry, I hope you come out of there in one piece. You’re going to get broken, but if you come out, I expect you to be whole. I wish you wouldn’t fight so hard. You’re going to die in there if you go on like that, you know. And I don’t really want that. And I don’t think you want that either. If I thought I could motivate you to make the right choice I would. Really. But know that I’m planning for you to pull through this. I have plans for you. You really can have it all. Your whore girlfriend. Power. Control. All you need to do is listen to me and know that I’m giving you a gift. It’ll be the best thing ever that you never wanted. You’ll see I’m telling you the truth. The alternative is no better.
Your friend is here and he brought me the son of Bullock, did you know? Of course not. You’re stuck in there, stubbornly trying to keep me from opening my beautiful portal and ushering a new age for man. But they’re here, and I’m going to kill your friend. Maybe, I’ll let you kill him…that would be rich, no? And apparently you boys have been flirting, because you’ve brought me some ladies I don’t recognize. But I will get acquainted with them soon. Would you like me to leave them to you as well? Don’t spend too long in there, Harry. We need you out here…”
From the group, a bespectacled older man tapped Dolph on his shoulder.
“Sir,” he said, “we believe that the subject inside can not hear what you are saying.”
Dolph turned to the nominated labcoat, whom he promptly pushed back towards the group by the face. The man tumbled back, and his group parted, literally not supporting their representative.
“I figured that out, no thanks to your keen insights. Never interrupt me while I’m monologuing. It’s a bad habit and, I’ll admit, cliché, but the next idiot who can’t give me a quick answer without consultation and then has the gall to break my speech, you’re going into Room 16.”
“Harry, I hope you come out of there in one piece. You’re going to get broken, but if you come out, I expect you to be whole. I wish you wouldn’t fight so hard. You’re going to die in there if you go on like that, you know. And I don’t really want that. And I don’t think you want that either. If I thought I could motivate you to make the right choice I would. Really. But know that I’m planning for you to pull through this. I have plans for you. You really can have it all. Your whore girlfriend. Power. Control. All you need to do is listen to me and know that I’m giving you a gift. It’ll be the best thing ever that you never wanted. You’ll see I’m telling you the truth. The alternative is no better.
Your friend is here and he brought me the son of Bullock, did you know? Of course not. You’re stuck in there, stubbornly trying to keep me from opening my beautiful portal and ushering a new age for man. But they’re here, and I’m going to kill your friend. Maybe, I’ll let you kill him…that would be rich, no? And apparently you boys have been flirting, because you’ve brought me some ladies I don’t recognize. But I will get acquainted with them soon. Would you like me to leave them to you as well? Don’t spend too long in there, Harry. We need you out here…”
From the group, a bespectacled older man tapped Dolph on his shoulder.
“Sir,” he said, “we believe that the subject inside can not hear what you are saying.”
Dolph turned to the nominated labcoat, whom he promptly pushed back towards the group by the face. The man tumbled back, and his group parted, literally not supporting their representative.
“I figured that out, no thanks to your keen insights. Never interrupt me while I’m monologuing. It’s a bad habit and, I’ll admit, cliché, but the next idiot who can’t give me a quick answer without consultation and then has the gall to break my speech, you’re going into Room 16.”
---
It was pure light shining in her eye. The left one. There was darkness, and then the white glare of light. It almost hurt, but it was just the capillaries in the eye reacting, adjusting and trying to cycle blood into the organ to focus. There had been so much darkness, the eyes had weakened without use, and even if the light was not being shined in her eye, Angie would still have trouble seeing. The eye was closed, and then the other was subjected to the same treatment. The darkness came again, but after a few moments there was a different kind of darkness. It felt like her eyes were open, but she still couldn’t see. At least that damn light wasn’t there. There was some pressure and then a spreading warmth in her eyes. They tingled from the saline-nutrient solution that was being administered, and then, total darkness. She noticed that there was no longer any crying or moaning.
---
The access hallway was lined with pipes and wires. There were no signs from the dock where they’d moored the hydrofoil, but Hrel was certain the deeper down they went into the facility, the more likely they were to find people that could reveal the whereabouts of Brother Dave or his family. Lackeys and footsoldiers could possibly lead them up the food chain, but better to stay hidden in the infrastructure until they found the a central hub or command point that would give them an accurate picture of what was there.
“I hope wandering around is going to help find us Brother Dave,” said Ivy. It wasn’t said directly to Pam, but she knew that it was more than Ivy just talking rhetorically. Ever since the boat, that docile little girl had started sounding off about their techniques. For someone who wanted to find Dave as bad as she did, Ivy was certainly not as dedicated to overcoming the obstacles to locate him as she was. Then again, Ivy wanted to probably hold hands and skip through fields with him, while Pam was looking to punish him for the pain he’d caused her. I’m helping you Hrel, she thought, but when this is done, Bullock is mine and you and your ilk better not get in my way.
Anton felt the tension between the women and tried to defuse it. “We’re not seeing anybody, so that means we’re probably in an area that’s off limits to most people, and that means we’re likely to get into some places where we’ll find good information. See…that’s what I’m talking about. He pointed at the elevator at the end of the corridor.
There was a small placard directory on the wall next to the call button. There were four levels but only two were marked – labs and engineering. The labs were the second to last level, above engineering, which was likely plant operations and physical power for the structure. The mysterious two top levels, though unmarked, had the same color background that said level one and level two.
“Let’s go purple,” Pam decided. “Labs have offices, computers – things we could look through.”
“You don’t want to start at the bottom,” challenged Ivy.
“If they had Dave here, would he be in someplace where engineers were or perhaps in a lab setting?”
“We’re still expecting that we’ll find him here.”
Pam definitely towered over Ivy, and her size was even more menacing when she got right up to Ivy. She looked down at the waif. “He’s here. I can feel him in here. Don’t question it…he is here.”
Ivy didn’t shrink away from Pam, but backed down as Ru reached out and gave Ivy a bath of relaxing endorphins. Yes, I can feel him too, said the voice to Ivy. “Fine, let’s just get him and get outta here. The further we go, the worse this feeling gets that there’s some bad shit around.”
Both Anton and Pam were shocked to hear their sweet companion actually swear. It was almost…charming.
They moved into the elevator and took it to the lab floor, holding their breath that the doors would open and there would not be a horde of people there staring confusedly at the oddly combined trio. Luckily, that was not the case, and they exited the elevators to a dimly lit foyer with corridors branching away from the center. There was a reception desk directly in front, like in a hospital, and on it was a monitor that showed several different hall lengths and doors. In one part of the split screen, there was a row of heavy metal doors that were numbered with large letters, which stood out because one was pulled open.
“Anybody believe that’s a sign,” asked Anton.
“Which way is it?”
Pam scanned the different directions and saw that to her left were labs, and the right halls were simply labeled “rooms”. “That way,” she said, leading them towards the open room.
“At least we know there’s one room we can get into easily,” quipped Anton.
They moved through the passageway and saw the rooms ascending. There was no light coming from under the doors of the rooms as they went past and no sound as well. They all had three foot tall numbers painted on the metal doors that appeared like they’d been taken from an aircraft carrier and transported there in a strange construction error. There was a bank ahead, but the rooms continued, and they reached the open door, which was slid to the side on the rails that were necessary to move such a massive bulkhead. Pam looked into the blackened room, and seeing nothing reached along the side of the wall, disappearing into the dark until she felt a switch. The lights in the room warmed up and soon the operating theater was in full view for the three of them. It was clean and reset, but there were several garbage-sized bags with the biohazard symbol on them looking rather full against one wall.
“Anything stand out here,” asked Pam.
“Let’s keep moving. Maybe there’s another open door. If there’s a surgical facility, then there have to be patient rooms.”
Anton added, “That sounds about right…”
As they moved on, none of the doors were ajar, but they grabbed the bars and gave them a tug to see if they would open. Pam gave a pull, and the sheet of metal gave slightly. Ivy and Anton stopped at their doors and came over to her.
“Let’s give this one a shot.”
Pam pulled it open a few feet and went in looking for a light source. Anton followed her in as did Ivy.
“I’m not finding anything here,” she said.
Ivy went to the other wall where a little light shown and started to feel around. “There’s nothing here either.”
Anton started back towards the door of Room 16 to pull it open further when it suddenly shut.
“What…?”
“What did you do?” Pam and Hrel sounded angry.
“I was going to open it for more light when it closed. I didn’t even touch it,” he said.
“Damn it,” Pam said, reaching into her pockets for the caduceus. It made a faint glow, washing Pam in a pastel blue.
Ivy suddenly felt sick to her stomach. “Turn that off,” she commanded.
“Steve? Is that you?” The voice was coming from across the room, maybe thirty feet or more from them.
Pam muttered, “Oh shit,” and killed the glow of the wand in her hand, but held it unsheathed.
They could feel a gust of air and then a loud, wet cough. There was a sound almost like a soda can being opened, and the air grew warm with mist. Something landed near Pam’s feet with the splat of a wet towel, and she didn’t want to turn the caduceus on, but Hrel made her, creating a fluorescent aura.
Anton’s face was in front of her. The rest of him was gone.
Pam shown the light across the floor, which was covered in crimson creating a puddle between her and Ivy, who was hugging the far wall and covered in a light spray of blood like Pam.
Claude Bullock did not venture anywhere near the field of the caduceus light, not because he knew what it was, but the daemon inside him feared it. “That wasn’t Steve,” he said. “He’s the only visitor I get. That, and my meals.”
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