Precipice: The Beginning (15 page)

31

M
organ had been out of the game for far too long. He’d gone soft. Not something you thought about, it just happened. Ten years ago he could have taken a bullet to the arm without a flinch, able to channel his pain into focused anger. Now he lay on a gurney with a broken arm, sheltering the wound like a five year old with a bad boo-boo. The only thing to alleviate the terrible throbbing was the unconscious face of his sweet Christina. Since she’d first entered their unit, he’d come to look upon her as his daughter. Her innocent face anything but. Never had he been so impressed with a woman then he was with her. She’d saved his ass on more than one occasion, ending an intense session of hand to hand combat with a flirty wink or a hilarious joke. Now she lay motionless. So unlike her to be so still, looking weak and frail.

“Is she alright?” Sean asked from the doorway.

“No change,” Morgan answered, rolling onto his side with the good arm. “The doctor said she’ll pull through, but there might be some permanent damage to her lungs.”

“What kind of damage?” Sean’s eyes were heavy with concern.

“I don’t know.” Morgan smiled, sensing the love radiating off him. “Why don’t you come in and sit a spell. I know we could both use the company.”

Sean entered the room, pulling up a chair beside Christina. He’d lowered his hard exterior in the wake of the news, fearing the absolute worse. He took hold of her hand, upset by how cold her flesh felt to his fingertips. It felt so good to be close to her again, despite the circumstances. Holding her hand reconfirmed why he went on living. She was his only lifeline in this shithole. To lose her would be unimaginable. It would be all he’d need to go into his cell and slit his wrists. There would be nothing left for him, not in this existence. Hell was no concern in the afterlife. Not when every moment of his natural life was spent there. Looking at her day after day from across the cafeteria, wanting to cross the room and take hold of her hands. He loved her. With every ounce of his soul. But he couldn’t bring himself to enter back into their circle, to be with Daniels. Not after the deal he’d made that had sent them to this red prison. Daniels deal had been an admission of guilt when there was none. Sean refused to be called a murderer when they all knew it to be a lie.

“You’re going over it in your mind.” Morgan turned his head to get a better glimpse of Sean’s face. “Being with her reminds you of what happened.”

“I don’t need to be reminded of what I can’t forget…or forgive.” Sean spoke softly.

“Seems like there’s not much you can do about that now.” Morgan winced from the pain in his arm as he struggled into a sitting position, rolling his legs over the side of the gurney. “What Daniels did was for the best of us all.”

“Don’t hand me that shit again,” Sean yelled, his rage boiling over. “I like you Morgan, just as I like every other member in our unit. But I will not sit here and go over the same bullshit in hopes of trying to move on. Move on with what? Anyone and everyone that’s ever known me now thinks I’m a brutal murderer. Worse, we weren’t even given the chance to defend ourselves. He didn’t even try.”

“Open your eyes. We weren’t going to get a chance to stand trial. They wanted to keep this quiet. Daniels was offered the choice to plead guilty and get a one-way ticket to space, or deny everything and have us all executed. He did it to save your life.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They offered him a deal. Come to Mars and report from the inside and watch the miners, or have all of us be put to death.” Morgan nodded, smiling at Sean. “Yes, that’s right. If he hadn’t done it, you and Christina would be dead.” Morgan lay back down, letting out a groan of discomfort. “We’d all be six feet under.”

“Six feet under? Like my father?” Sean stood from his chair. “Travis’ little deal made us look guilty to the eyes of this country, including my father. He became so disgusted with what he’d heard… You see, they’d published those photos, put them all over the BBC. Night after night, watching our faces standing in the middle of that village like a bunch of blood-thirsty monsters, until he could finally take it no longer. He dressed himself in his dress uniform, went into my old bedroom and took a seat on the bed.” Sean wiped a fresh tear from his eye. “He put a bullet through his brain. But the last thing going through his mind, other than that bullet, was how ashamed he was of his son.”

“That was not Travis’ doing.” Morgan looked Sean directly in the eyes. “That was all the work of those fucking tabloids. Blowing the truth completely out of proportion to make Americans look like total bastards. Poor people like your father are always caught in the middle, but do they care? Not as long as they can sell their papers.”

“It’s not something I can just get over.” Sean turned to Christina and looked down at her peaceful face, so thankful to see her chest rise and fall. “I want to, so very badly I do.” Sean shook his head. “I just can’t do it.”

“Well its well within your power to do so.” Morgan rolled onto his side. “I’m going to try and get some rest, so feel free to visit with Christina. It won’t bother me.” Morgan pressed down on the pain medicine release valve. “Especially when these drugs kick in.” Morgan closed his eyes and let the medicine slip into his system. Warm and soothing, masking the pain in his arm.

Sean looked back to Morgan and nodded, knowing deep down inside he had been right about a great many things. There had never been a greater time in his life then his years with the unit, part of the team. They’d watched each other’s backs and shared their lives, becoming a family. But Travis hadn’t taken the place of his real father. No one ever could and now he was gone, dead because of what he’d allowed to happen. Sean felt the pain swell in his throat like an apple he’d swallowed, uncomfortable and thick. It was best to push it aside and focus on the only good thing he had left. He took his seat and ran a hand through Christina’s hair, brushing it away from her eyes. He had no medical training whatsoever, so there was no indication as to how serious her condition was. Sean knew they were never to remove their helmets subside. Training had burned it into their brains. Now he knew it wasn’t just paranoia. His sweet Christina was suffering from Martian soil inhalation, all those chemicals and ground ore absorbing into her lung tissue.

“I’m not sure if you can hear me, but I want you to know that I’m right here.” Sean looked back to Morgan, keeping his voice low. But Morgan was on his back with his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open. “I want to say how sorry I am for not being there for you. Like today.” Sean felt himself tearing up. Her face so calm, too calm. There was no response to his voice. “Can you hear me?”

Christina lay there without response, her chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm. Sean pulled his chair closer to the gurney, bringing his lips a few inches from her ear so his words would remain private. He was not the kind of man to let emotion flow easily; a remnant from his father’s training on how to be a good little soldier. But this was love and therefore took precedence over all else.

“I remember the first time I saw you.” Sean smiled, thinking back to what a prick he’d been. “I insulted you right off the bat. Told you there was no way a scrawny bitch could keep up in a unit like this. Then you twisted my arm behind my back and forced me to the ground.” Sean laughed softly, remembering how embarrassed he’d been. Talking trash only to be beaten down by the woman. “I think I fell in love with you that very instant.”

The lights dimmed, replaced with a red flashing alarm.

“Attention, all personnel are to report to their private living quarters immediately. Cease what you are doing and report to your living space. This facility is in a level five lockdown until further notice.”

Sean recognized the voice as Andrews, the tone cold and full of urgency.

“What’s this all about?” Morgan opened his eyes and lifted his head, swaying from side to side as he fought the medication.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like the sound of a level five lockdown, whatever that means.” Sean turned his attention back to Christina, the red lights bathing her pale skin. “I guess I have to cut our visit short. I’m sorry.” Sean touched her cheek, wanting so badly to stay, to be by her side, but the red siren above told him it was not to be.

32

T
hursday night, date night. Pretty much the only night Russell and Veronica set aside to spend one night doing nothing else but spend time together. Russell would put down his holoscope and Veronica would stay off her wrist communicator, if only for a few hours. Other than this one night a week, most people in their building would have thought they didn’t exist. Both worked from home, had two of the three bedrooms in their condo converted into offices and stayed inside almost all the time. Dinners consisted of who delivered. Date night was their only exception to the norm, a reminder that they were in fact a couple. Children would have reminded them daily, but neither one thought that was going to happen. Since day one, Russell and Veronica had agreed that bringing a child into this world was a cruel joke.

“Did you hear someone screaming a few seconds ago?” Veronica yelled from the bathroom, curling her hair.

“Huh?” Russell had barely heard her. He stood before the bedroom mirror working on his tie.

“Nothing.” Veronica shook her head, turning off her curling iron with a dissatisfied sigh.

Veronica was never the type of girl that liked to dress up and “make pretty,” a term her mother used to toss about almost daily and it made her sick. She was more of a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl. To be more to the point, she was a straight up slob. Had always been one too. As a little girl she’d pull out all her drawers and toss the clothes on the floor. Russell understood this because he was a slob as well. Both their offices were monuments of clutter. Textbooks piled on the desk as well as the floor. Old newspapers and magazines lay in mounds, none of them newer than four years ago. They both strongly felt that the media was comprised of morons breastfed by Satan himself. But that’s what made them a workable pair. They were both disgusting and they accepted that. It wasn’t so much love. More that Veronica knew everything about Russell that bothered her and it wasn’t enough to make her leave. Vice versa no doubt, but they’d never talk about it. Not something they would bring up, especially on date night. Even the heavy rain outside wasn’t going to stop them tonight. It may have been the perfect excuse to keep them in for the last few days, but even she needed to stretch her legs.

“Okay, let’s cut a rug.” Russell stood by the door, blue jeans and a tweed jacket over a black T-shirt. His version of dressing up.

“The day you go on the dance floor is the day the world ends.” Veronica gave a sour smirk as she passed, grabbing her coat from the rack beside the door. “There it is again.” Veronica stepped into the hall, tilting her head up to the ceiling.

“What are you talking about?” Russell asked while locking the door.

“Did you hear that? It sounded like screaming and gunshots.”

“Come on,” Russell laughed, linking his arm around her while pulling her toward the elevator. “We live on the tenth floor for crying out loud. Even if someone was out there screaming their head off, you’d never hear it from up here.” Russell pressed the button for the elevator. “You’re probably just overly stressed because that dick of an agent is pressing you for an ending.”

“Well the novel should have one, don’t you think,” Veronica snapped, stepping into the elevator with her head down. Russell had been right of course. She’d been so stressed out over the last chapter that she hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in three days. Veronica would sit on her computer and play around, go shopping when she should have been typing. Distractions kept her from the frightening truth, those horrible two words that stalk writers like a plague: writer’s block.

“Are you okay?” Russell was concerned, reading her expression of doubt and dismay.

“Fine,” Veronica lied.

It was a shitty start to a wonderful night out and Veronica felt bad about it. Most of her life was either spent feeling guilty or pissed off, the latter always ending up with a guilty feeling. But that’s what had always made her such a great writer. Her anger toward the world and her mounds of guilt led to honest, truthful writing. Emotional people could relate and wanted to buy. But there was nothing spewing from her these past few days but doubt. She looked up and watched the number descend with them, from seven to six and so on.

“Do you smell that?” Russell sniffed the air with his extremely large nose, looking like a bloodhound on the trail of some fugitive. “Smells like smoke.”

“Maybe you had a thought and the sticks are burning.” Veronica’s laugh quickly died off as the smoke filled her nose as well. “What’s going on?”

The elevator moved from the second to the first floor, the doors parting to pure chaos that neither of them would have ever expected to see in their lobby. A car had driven through the main entrance and sat a few feet from the elevator door, completely engulfed in flame. This was not something they ever expected to see in their lifetime, let alone in Wisconsin.

“Shut the doors!” Veronica reached passed him and stretched for the button.

“Are you mad?” Russell gripped her arms, digging his thumbs deep into the flesh. “We have to get out of here before the whole building goes up.”

Russell released Veronica’s arms and hurried out into the lobby, running with his arm before his face to shield the heat. The car was upside down, the tires still spinning. Russell got as close as he could and knelt down, pulling away from the intense heat to try and get a glimpse inside. The charred remains of the driver lay curled in the fetal position on the roof, looking well beyond any possible hope of rescue. Russell pushed away from the burning wreckage and looked for a fire extinguisher, spying one lying on the ground with some foam on the nozzle. He went to touch it, wondering why someone had started to put out the blaze and simply took off, but a nearby shriek altered his focus. Someone was standing on the sidewalk, staring directly at him. He couldn’t make out any features through the smoke but he could feel the weight of eyes on him. The person sprinted forward, moving with unnatural speed and agility, and then it bent down to run on all fours.

“What the fuck?!” Russell screamed as the creature leapt through the hole in the front entrance.

It looked like a human dinosaur, elongated and reptilian, yet humanoid. Russell watched it fly through the air, up and over the car with a trajectory directly for his face. Feeling as if he were moving beneath water, Russell grabbed hold of the fire extinguisher. He fell onto his back and compressed the black plunger. White foam sprayed into the beast’s face, blurring its vision while causing it to miss Russell by mere inches. Veronica shrieked and dove out of the way as the creature slid along the lobby, slamming into the elevator wall.

“Close it!” Russell screamed, tilting his head to look back at her, the world upside down by his vision on the floor.

Veronica scurried to her feet and reached inside the elevator, cringing in terror from the creature on its back, kicking and slapping the air blindly. Her finger pressed a floor at random and she withdrew her arm as the doors closed, making that brutal bastard some other tenant’s problem now. Veronica looked to Russell and broke out in tears, her body shivering. There was no comprehension for what she’d just dealt with. The uncomfortable warmth from her proximity to the car brought her back to reality.

“We need to get going.” Russell moved into a sitting position, freezing as he heard another shriek in the distance. “Like right now!”

Veronica stood and took hold of Russell’s hand, pulling him to his feet as they maneuvered over the broken glass and chunks of wall scattered down the cement steps. They both stood for a moment, looking out on the city they’d called home for the past six years and wondered how this could have happened. While they’d been locked away in their penthouse condo like a couple of hermit crabs, something had sent this city into a panicked frenzy. The downtown district was one large fire, all the buildings burning like giant candles. People were running through the streets with their arms either carrying whatever belongings they could grab or held high above their heads as they fled. Veronica and Russell ran across the street into the community park, ducking behind a playhouse to gather their thoughts. Both of them oblivious to the heavy rainfall.

“What is happening?” Veronica tried to control her breathing. Short, quick breaths were all she could manage.

“Did you see that mutant freak?” Russell closed his eyes tight, forcing out the smoke and soot. It stung something fierce. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. Must be something from the government.”

“Look!” Veronica pointed back to their building.

They sat in stunned silence as their building, their home, caught fire. Even with all the rain, the fire continued to spread. It was horrifying to watch, but it held their attention. People’s screaming voices rang out through the night. Helpless and fearful. Veronica took her husband’s hand and watched as people flung themselves from their windows. This had been partly their fault and they both knew it. Russell could have taken the fire extinguisher and gone to work, spraying that damned car till he had done all he could. But they’d both fled into the night like a pair of thief’s. Now they were going to sit in the cold, damp grass and watch these people plummet to their deaths. Veronica was so thankful for the bushes and shrubs at the park’s edge that kept their impact from her vision. The wet thud made her shiver. The noise of their bodies colliding with the sidewalk would haunt her till the end of time.

“God forgive us.” Veronica whispered.

“Amen.” Russell finally turned away. “There’s nothing more we can do for those people.” Russell stuck with his best quality, the ability to find excuses. “We didn’t crash that fucking car into our building. Plus we weren’t the first ones to work that fire extinguisher. Why hadn’t they gone for help?”

As if to answer his question, a creature shrieked from only a few yards behind them. Russell took hold of Veronica’s hand and stood hunched over, looking over the roof of the little wooden playhouse. He saw the creature standing in the park, looking from side to side. It lifted its head into the night air and sniffed like a dog. It was far too close for their comfort, no more than thirty feet away. The rising flames from their building cast some light into the park, illuminating the features of this bizarre beast. It was dark green with small black dots, long, muscular legs. It looked like a giant frog to Russell. Its thick chest pushed out, rising and falling quickly as it continually sniffed the air. The face was nothing short of grotesque. The head was shaped like a wolf’s, elongated around the mouth like a snout, but there appeared to be no lips. A permanent snarl came from its protruding teeth, uneven and black. The eyes were the most disturbing part, neon green. Glowing in the dark as if radioactive, which had been Russell’s first initial thought as to their origin. The beast cocked its head and let out a shriek that eerily sounded like an infant’s cry. It took off toward the buffet of falling victims across the street.

“That was a different one. How could there be more than one of those things?” Veronica was slipping into shock, her eyes going distant.

Russell ignored her. He couldn’t take his eyes off the way it moved, how it started out in a standing position and then fell forward into an all out beast-like sprint. It must have stood over eight feet tall to be so comparable to the trees around it. Russell’s thought process was broken as something growled out of the darkness.

“Come on, we have to move.” Russell pulled Veronica by the arm, but she didn’t follow. “Wake up damn it!” Russell slapped her face back into consciousness.

“Ouch.” Veronica grabbed her cheek, looking him in the eyes and asked him how dare he hit her without so much as a word.

“Please, we have to go.”

Veronica followed her husband closely as they ran across the park, unsure of where they could possibly go. Most of the buildings around the park were now ablaze as their condo fire met up with the burning blaze from downtown. Across the park was a corner drugstore with the lights still on. They picked up the pace and ran harder than they ever had in their lives. Their lungs burning. Russell was the first to reach the store, tugging on the door to no avail.

“Please. Someone let us in!” Russell screamed, pounding on the reinforced glass like a savage. “Someone help us.”

An older man wearing a red apron with the drugstore’s logo set in the center stood from behind the counter and hurried to the door. He knelt down and turned the small latch, barely able to move out of the way as the couple bolted inside. The store’s clerk quickly locked the door.

“What is happening out there?” Veronica cried, burying her face in her husband’s chest. “What is happening!?”

“We don’t know.” The clerk stood, gripping a nearby display of energy bars for balance. “That fella back there was the first to come in here over an hour ago. Said they took his wife right away.” The old shopkeeper limped back behind the counter and took a sip from his flask. “I didn’t see them ‘til a few minutes ago running past while dragging some poor woman behind it, like she was a sack of garbage on its way out to the curb. Oh, the site of her mangled face…” He looked down to the counter and began to weep.

“Does anyone know what those things are?” Russell asked, looking over the shelves of overly priced items to the scattered people. “What are they?”

“No!” Veronica screamed, backing away from the front door.

Russell turned and saw the beast they’d heard snarling in the park staring at them from across the street. It walked across the pavement slowly, snarling to show its impressive fangs. This creature was different than the one from the lobby. As it stood beneath the streetlamp, it became apparent this creature was not some random mutation. This was a hunter. It stalked them with those same green eyes its larger brother had, glowing in the dark like the stars Russell used to put in his room as a kid. Beneath the lamppost it looked as if someone had skinned a lion, only this time the lion had something to say about it.

“This is something different,” a man said from the back of the store, his voice a rollercoaster of terror.