Necropolis 3 (5 page)

“
Dude...oh my
God
! That was fucking
sick
!” Campbell cried in triumph.

He rushed up and slapped Greg on the back, laughing wildly.

“Well, I've had practice,” Greg replied, and he started laughing too.

“
Man, that was just...
God
, look at this thing!” He kicked it. “You like that, bitch? You like that?”

Greg left him to it, feeling high on the heady rush of adrenaline and surviving something stupidly dangerous, and came around the side of the driller. He peered into the open panel, found the part he was looking for and carefully detached it from the rest of the wiring and technology within. It wasn't very large, though it did seem delicate. He slipped it into his inner pocket and came back around to Campbell.

“Let's get back topside,” he said.

“
Yes,” Campbell agreed.

As they made their way back upstairs, Campbell spoke up again.

“Hey, want to hear something fucked up?”

“
I'm going to respond, yes...though very hesitantly.”

Campbell laughed. “You're a nice guy, aren't you?”

“Well, I don't know. I mean I try-”

“
No, no. Not like that. I mean like...like a Nice Guy, you know?” he asked, saying the words slowly.

Greg shrugged. “I'm not sure I know.”

“Like that saying, nice guys finish last? You know how nice guys are always saying that girls like guys that are assholes, the kind that are mean to them? And the assholes don't deserve the girls ‘cause they don't appreciate them?”

“
That...sounds familiar, actually,” Greg replied.

“
Yeah, well, I was that asshole. I was the jerkoff in high school who had lots of good-looking girlfriends.”

“
And that's the fucked up part?” Greg asked as they began climbing the ladder.

Campbell shook his head. “No, man. The fucked up part is what the nice guys never admit to themselves. Those girls they always pine after, the girls that go for the assholes? They never would've worked out with a nice guy anyway. And, the uglier truth that no nice guy admits to himself, is that he only wanted that girl ‘cause she was hot.”

“Is there a point to this?” Greg asked as he climbed out of the shaft, then turned and pulled Campbell up.

“
Yes. I was trying to insult you. You seem like a nice guy.”

Greg stared at him for a moment, and then let out a long laugh.

“I think I'm beginning to like you, Campbell.”

“
Maybe you aren't such a nice guy after all.” Campbell laughed along.

They headed back towards the hangar.

* * * * *

When they came back to the hangar, Greg could tell something was going on. Several people, including Mike, Kyra, Burne, and Linda were gathered around Lynch, who glanced over at Greg as he and Campbell approached.

“Wow, you actually did it,” she said.

“
Had to kill a Berserker to get it,” Greg replied, passing off the part to a technician, who took it and made for the ship.

“
I'm impressed, but I'm afraid you've got some more impressing to do, we're about to make our first big move,” Lynch replied.

Greg shifted in next to Kyra and leaned up against a sturdy stack of crates. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, what?”

“We're pretty secure here, and we've gathered up all the spare parts for the bomb and the ship as we can without actually leaving the installation, which means we're going to have to raid the former Dark Ops labs for parts. So, this is how it’s going to happen. The building we're heading to is largely storage and the headquarters for the miners. We have three objectives to complete there. Bishop, Mercer, Campbell, and Mike are going to lead a team underground, via the tunnels that connect our two structures. You'll come up right into a primary lab where they did a lot of their research. We need dirt on Dark Ops if we expect to survive past this system.

“
I’ll lead a team across the surface. My team will go for the armory and gather up as many guns and ammo as we can. Greg, once you and your team complete your task you’ll head for a storage compartment and grab another critical piece for our EMP bomb. Once we've got these things, we'll haul ass back here.

“
Anyone got any questions?”

Lynch smoked a cigar now, and grinned around it.

There were no questions.

“
Good. Then let's gear up and get to it.”

* * * * *

Besides Kyra, Campbell, and Mike, Lynch had been kind enough to supply them with two extra security personnel and one technician. Carter was among the two security members. The second one was a bug-eyed man who never seemed to stop sweating or looking around, named Thompson. The technician wore a stained, torn, blue jumpsuit and looked as though he might be shell-shocked. He said nothing and watched the shadows intently. His nametag gave his name simply as Reed. Lynch assured them he was still all there and could do the job.

This time, they were descending into the actual tunnel network that connected the three main structures, as well as the mines themselves. There was a large, solidly built tunnel that directly connected the starport to the mining headquarters. Greg remembered the scans they'd originally taken from the jump ship.

The tunnels had been alight with undead signatures.

Their excursions down below hadn't been all that pleasant so far. Greg prepared himself for the worst. They took a stairwell that would drop them off directly in the main tunnel. The map said it was a hundred meter walk.

The group made their way down the stairwell in silence, the only sound the humming of the power and their echoing footfalls. Greg led the way with Campbell. Nobody seemed willing or able to say anything. He reached the bottom and frowned as he saw the door had no window built into it. He'd have to open it blind.

He reached over, hesitated, and then hit the access button.

The door slid open.

A rocky, starkly-lit tunnel awaited his inspection. It was noticeably colder down there. Greg stepped out and tossed a quick gaze right, then left. He couldn't see anything, but the light wasn't as good in other areas of the tunnel.

“Looks clear,” he said.

“
A ringing endorsement,” Campbell replied.

Greg chuckled and they stepped out. He shivered as the cold really hit him. He could see his breath forming on the air.

“Damn,” he muttered. “Really freaking cold down here.”

“
It's like that. We heat it as best we can, but, well, you know how it is, this being an airless moon and all.” Mike shrugged.

Greg turned, did a head count and, satisfied with the results, turned back and made the long, cold trek. The stimulant was still pumping through his system. He wanted this to be over. He wanted
out
of this godforsaken system. His thoughts kept turning to the star that was beginning to go supernova.

The pressure was on, more than it had ever been before, and he just wanted it to stop. Some small part of him asked, reasonably enough, just what it was he planned to do when he escaped the system. As usual, he didn't have an answer, but tided himself over with the knowledge that it wouldn't matter if he didn't escape.

They'd made it about halfway down the lengthy tunnel, heading towards darker territory, when Greg noticed it. It was a sound, a rapid noise that grew louder. It sounded almost like someone had taken a recording of someone walking and sped it up to ridiculous speeds. He frowned and stopped, making the others do so as well.

“
Do you hear that?” he asked.

“
I do,” Campbell murmured.

Greg glanced back and his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. He spun fully around and raised his shotgun.

“Move!” he screamed.

Something
raced towards them so fast that it was a blur. His eyes had a hard time keeping up with it. The others got out of his way, spun around, and raised their own weapons. Those with rifles took potshots at it, but it was so
fast
. As it came within a few meters of their position, Greg finally fired his shotgun. The blast clipped it and sent it spinning. It hit the ground and was met with a hail of gunfire.

When it finally stopped moving, Greg and Kyra moved forward cautiously. He studied this strange, new thing with unbelieving eyes.

“Holy
God
,” Kyra whispered.

“
What the fuck is this thing?” Campbell asked.

It was tall and lean. It was a new kind of Undead. The skin had taken on a darker quality, an, Greg realized with growing horror, vaguely resembled the rock walls that surrounded them. Its face had taken on an angular, almost reptilian quality.

Its fingers ended in narrow, razor-sharp claws.

“
It's a new one,” Greg murmured. “Must have changed to match the environment down here...what do we call it?”

“
Speed Demon,” Campbell replied after a long moment.

“
Hey, not bad,” Greg said. He looked at Kyra. “Any complaints?”

“
No...I actually like it,” she replied.

“
Then it's settled. This is a Speed Demon,” Greg said.

“
You guys are nuts,” Carter muttered.

“
I dunno, I think it's a good idea. I'll let Melissa know,” Mike said.

They continued their journey, keeping an extra wary eye out. They managed to reach the end of the tunnel without another incident. Greg found another stairwell, cleared it, and led the way up. Thoughts drifted through his mind, and this time they were bleak. They were interesting thoughts, potentially progressive once.

This was a Dark Ops lab, an abandoned one. What had they left behind? What secrets of their research unlocked? What might he discover here? He led them up the stairwell and crested the final rise. Another moment of blindness, no window in the door. Greg paused, tried to listen, but couldn't hear anything. He opened the door, leveled his shotgun and squeezed the trigger. Blood, brains and bone fragments flew as a zombie's face was turned to flying debris. There were more zombies in the area beyond.

Greg moved out, taking them down, Campbell at his back, moving out and in the opposite direction. Kyra joined them, standing in the doorway. They each covered a portion of the room, which was a huge, massive, open area, most of which was taken up by stacks of what appeared to be glass cages.

Guns fired, muzzles flared, and bullets flooded. Blood sprayed equipment, cages, and a dimly lit steel environment alike. Finally, the last zombie fell.

“
Clear!” Greg called.

The others emerged from the stairwell.

“You sure about that?” Thompson asked.

“
No, but we're going to secure the area and-
HOLY SHIT
!”

“
What? What is it?”

“
What's going on?”

Greg had turned to look deeper into the area and found himself staring up at a Berserker, which bore down on him, arms raised, malformed hands clenched into fists, eyes full of inhuman fury...and it began to beat helplessly and soundlessly against a glass wall.

“False alarm. Sorry, everyone. This thing just scared the shit out of me,” Greg said.

Everyone looked over at him, then at the Berserker.

“Shit, man, I almost shit my pants. I mean, literally, I almost shit my pants.” Campbell shouted unhappily. Mike started laughing. “Yeah, man, you think it's funny now, but then you'd have to be hanging around with a guy wearing loaded pants.”

“
No way in hell I'd be anywhere near you,” Mike replied.

“
Let's get to it. Reed, come on,” Greg said.

He and Kyra led the tech through what appeared to be a central thoroughfare, towards a terminal at the base of a large pair of databanks. The others split up, checking out the vault-like warehouse they found themselves in.

Greg watched Reed settle in and boot up the terminal.

“
You okay?” he asked.

Reed nodded. “Just watch my back.”

“Got it.”

Seconds ticked by, morphing into minutes in the dim, bloody environment. Greg really started to look around, taking it all in. There were rows upon rows of square, glass and steel cages stacked nearly to the ceiling, forming an alcove leading from the doorway to the terminal and mainframes. They ended a few meters short of the terminal, offering access deeper into the room, where the others had wandered, investigating.

Some of the cages were larger, two squares stacked into one rectangle, obviously meant to hold Berserkers, like the one that had almost literally scared the shit out of Campbell. Greg began counting how many cages still held live specimens and frowned at the number he came up with. Most of those remaining were just plain zombies, but three of the larger cages still held live Berserkers. Greg began to get very uncomfortable.