Cascade box set 2, p.41
Cascade Box Set 2, page 41
Abbey pointed her flashlight around the edge of it. “Doesn’t look like it was part of the original tunnel. I’m also not seeing any handle or keyhole. It opens from the inside only.”
Burt looked at Abbey. “Could it be a bunker?”
Before she could answer a noise came from beyond the door. A whirring of wheels turning and levers being pulled.
They both began stepping back, while Burt’s grip of his assault rifle tightened. Finally a waft of warm air brushed past them and the door swung open towards them. An intense light flooded out of the gap.
“If you got any weapons, lay them on the ground now!” Shouted a male voice.
“Not laying anything buddy!” Shouted Burt back, crouching and pointing his rifle towards the light.
Abbey stood frozen, glancing between her traveling partner and the glare of the flashlights ahead of her. She raised her hands. “We’re just lost down here, we mean you no harm. Who are you?”
“Tell your friend to lay his weapon on the ground, we won’t ask again.”
She looked at Burt who frowned, then while shaking his head took his rifle from his shoulder and placed it not far from him on the ground.
One of the flashlights moved out of the doorway. Behind it the bearded face of a man in his thirties could just about be made out. “Where you coming from?”
“I’m from the camp in Austin.” Abbey could see the man’s face was one of confusion.
“That’s still standing?”
“More than standing, it’s thriving.”
“But—”
A woman stepped forward. “The General is going to want to see them. Get their weapons.” She looked at Abbey. “What’s your name?”
“Abbey.”
“I’m Lin. This is Joe. You’re lucky we were in this part of the tunnels or we would never have known you were here.”
Abbey did her best to smile. Joe took her rifle and Burt’s.
“Follow us, and stay close you don’t want to get lost down here.”
They moved over the threshold into a cleaner looking tunnel, while Joe closed the three-foot thick door behind them and turned a large steel wheel until it locked tight.
“How many are you?” said Abbey following the older woman.
“A lot.”
“You all live down here in these tunnels?”
“Not in these tunnels, no. It was obvious early on that the camp was not going to withstand the E.L.F’s that were attacking daily, hell during those first few weeks the attacks were constant, so construction started on a series of linked bunkers beneath the camp. Once the nukes took out some of the other camps, the decision was made to abandon the world above and to move to the bunkers.”
“But there’s not been any communication from up here? Can’t you talk to the outside world?”
“We prefer to keep to ourselves.”
After walking for a few minutes, they moved past another equally solid looking door, and descended stairs into a larger well-lit tunnel. The door at the end was twice as big as those they had already passed through. It opened before they got to it and the sound and smell of life immediately struck Abbey and Burt.
An unshaven man with a rifle over his shoulder grinned, revealing missing teeth at Lin as she approached. “Mitch’s ain’t gonna like you bringing home strays.”
“They have news about the other camps,” she said without looking at the man. He nodded while raising his eyebrows.
Abbey and Burt walked tentatively forward and over the threshold into a chamber large enough to hold a large passenger plane. Stalls, tents and makeshift huts sat tight to each other across most of the floor, with small channels full of busy looking people slicing through at haphazard angles.
Abbey leaned in to Burt. “There must be a few hundred people in this room alone.”
“This is… was one of this bunkers main storage hangers, now as you can see it’s more of a marketplace with some people also living here.”
The eyes of a small child fixed on Abbey, while her mother tried dragging her away.
“How many of these kinds of chambers you got down here?” said Burt.
Lin pointed behind them at the large white words on the wall near the door. ’S12’. “It goes up to twenty four.”
“And there are other bunkers? How many?” said Abbey.
Lin went to answer when a commotion at the back of the chamber, made her straighten her back. “You can ask the general all you want.”
Those in the spaces between the flimsily built structures, stepped to one side while three men and one woman, all in military uniform marched towards Abbey and the others.
Abbey breathed in heavily, she had been in this situation before. Usually the kind of humanity that had survived the Cascade was exactly who you didn’t want in charge of a fast food joint let alone a community of people trying to survive.
Two of the soldiers stood guard either side of a diminutive woman with graying hair, and a fair complexion. The woman stepped forward and held her hand out to Abbey. “I’m Brigadier General Jessica Mitchell,” she said with a southern accent. “But people call me Mitch. You two must have had quite some journey to get down here, how did you avoid our friends up top?”
Abbey hesitated talking, she had no idea how much ‘Mitch’ knew of her kind.
“We’re both pretty good with our rifles,” said Burt.
Mitch nodded. “And you say you’re from a camp near Austin?” She looked back and forth between Burt and Abbey.
“Yes, my… umm another general. General Elizabeth Trow is in charge there.”
“I know of Trow. Damn fine officer from what I heard.” Mitch turned to the soldier behind her. “See, told you the human race was too stubborn to completely die out, that’s a bottle of the good stuff you owe me Mason.”
CHAPTER NINE
Fiona looked at the huge cuboid form in front of her with Klept by her side. He was certainly more at home in zero gravity than she was, even with his incredible slim arms and legs. Without his help she never would have even spotted the aircraft hanger sized dark form amongst all the other smaller ones around it. She had decided that Klept was a male of his species, without having any proof that was the case, but she needed some stability in her mind about what he was.
Klept uttered something and pointed to the lower corner wall of the larger box chamber which seemed to have some kind of pattern on it, although Fiona couldn’t see anymore than that from their distance.
She nodded and went to push off, when Klept spoke again this time he sounded sharper in his pronunciation, and he waved his long arm in front of her.
She pointed downwards. “You want me to stay here?”
“Drire.”
She nodded and Klept pushed off from the pipe he was holding and floated serenely towards the larger structure. He seemed to know his way around. Maybe he’s been captured before?
A wave of fatigue flooded over her joints and limbs, and she shook her head trying to stay focused on Klept as he continued to float towards the monolithic shape in front of her. It wasn’t long before Klept looked just an inch in size, compared to what he was nearing. Just how big is that thing?
Finally her fellow prisoner seemed to arrive at the wall. By a rough guess of how long Klept took to get there, she reasoned the structure was about two hundred yards away. Meaning it would be about five stories high. She wondered if it contained many floors or was just one big cell. If it were the latter she really hoped Klept wasn’t trying to let out, what was inside.
She squinted and leaned forward to try and make out what Klept was doing. He seemed to be touching the wall in front of him, but not striking it, just lightly touching it.
“What the f—”
She let go of the cell next to her, as now it was gone, and floating just a few yards from her was a something which looked like a sea cucumber, but with thin spiny protrusions.
Scrambling to turn around and get away from whatever was in front of her, she realized that the walls to all the cells around her had disappeared and instead thousands of creatures sat positioned in perfect rows and columns in this endless three-dimensional maze of boxes.
She started to feel faint. She was trapped, floating in space surrounded by unimaginable monsters. Her breathing started to get away from her, and the world around started to spin even though she was sure she wasn’t moving.
Her back pushed up against something smooth and solid. Blinking and trying to focus on what she had hit up against, she turned and stared at a bear like creature with six legs, just a few feet away. She screamed and pushed her hands out in front of her, touching an invisible wall.
Uh?
Her fingers spread out and she pushed them more into what she was feeling but not seeing.
The cell walls are still there… thank God…
Her breathing started to slow. She realized she was drenched in sweat and rubbed some away from her forehead.
She waved her hand in front of the bear creature, but it continued to look past her.
He can’t see me.
She then had a thought. Can I find Zach and Raj?
She looked at the cells closest to her but each contained E.L.F’s. Suddenly she remembered Klept and looked back to where he was, but he was gone.
*****
Abbey and Burt stood inside a large room with multiple computer screens, and military personnel working at various workstations. In the center was a brightly lit table which displayed a map of the United States with a grid overlaid.
General Mitchell stood at the head of the table. She pointed at Austin. “So you have come all the way from south Texas? Did you have an escort?” she said looking at Abbey.
“Originally I did. We have an outpost in Kentucky.” The whole story was too complicated for her to recite right now and she was hoping there wouldn’t be too many questions.
The general looked confused. “The creatures own the surface world, I still don’t see how you both made it here.”
“Have you picked up any messages from the Austin Camp? Have you been following what has happened since you came down here?” said Abbey trying to shift the conversation away from how some humans were now different.
Mitchell moved away from the table. “Most of the outposts we were monitoring went dark some weeks back. Although we did pick up messages that they were under attack from a gang of some sort?”
“The Hell fire gang. Eventually they were more of an army…” Abbey wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of the Cascaders. There didn’t seem to be a way to avoid mentioning them. “Umm… have you heard how the Cascade has affected humans?”
The general smiled. “So that’s how you got this far.” She looked between Abbey and Burt. “Which one of you is a Cascader, or are you both?”
Burt snorted.
The general’s eyes rested on Abbey. “So you’re one then?”
Abbey’s eyes darted around the room looking for the nearest exit.
Mitchell laughed. “Calm yourself young lady. You’re not the only Cascader in this room, I’m one as well.”
Abbey felt a combination of relief and surprise at the same time. “So… why haven’t—”
“Haven’t we tried controlling those things above us?”
Abbey nodded.
“When we learned that some of us had that ability, we tried.” The general sighed. “And we lost people. Maybe down south you had the chance to learn how to use your newfound gifts, but up here there were so many E.L.F’s and so many different species, that… well we couldn’t learn quick enough. Eventually I decided to cut our losses and stay down here. At least until we had a handle on how to better use our abilities.”
A young soldier walked up to Burt and Abbey with two mugs of steaming coffee.
“I thought you would appreciate a hot drink,” said the general.
Burt almost lunged, he moved forward so quick. “That I do.” Abbey took hers as well.
“So now we know what we all are. How about you tell me why you’re here?”
“My parents,” said Abbey. As the words left her mouth, she realized how small and petty her quest to come to Boston must sound to those in a position of power.
The general looked to her right at a young female officer at a workstation. “Fowler, bring up the database of everyone in the bunker network.” The young girl started typing. “What’s your surname?” said the general to Abbey.
“Reisner,” said Abbey. She felt a strange kind of tingling which was not connected to her being a Cascader, this was excitement, an emotion she had not felt for a long while.
“There are five Reisner's in the database general,” said the officer.
“First names?” said the general.
“Asa and Betsy,” replied Abbey.
The officer scrolled her screen a little. “No, ma’am there is no one here of that name.”
“What about the ‘other’ database?” said the general.
“Other?” said Abbey not wanting an answer.
“Everyone that came into the camp above us was registered. If they entered, we will know.”
“Umm…”
“What is it lieutenant?”
“There is an Asa and Betsy Reisner, shown as entering the camp on the twelfth of September. They were housed, but that is all there is on them…”
Abbey knew what it meant, and tried to feel behind her for a chair, without any luck.
“I’m sorry, if—”
The rest of the general’s words were lost in a swirl of lights, then darkness and her coffee mug fell to the floor.
CHAPTER TEN
“Two hundred,” said Zach out of breath. Maybe age was finally taking its toil on him, for his usual exercise route was proving more difficult on the third day. He moved forward from his sit up position and gathered his feet below him, kneeling. The top part of his fatigues had long since become a towel and he grabbed it, wiping his neck and forehead.
He went to get up but instead remained fixed to the floor. He knew he could get up, but a part of him just didn’t want too. What’s the point?
“No!” He pushed himself off the floor, stood and started boxing the air around him, being part of some make-believe fight. In his mind he saw the ropes of the ring, and the faces of people sitting in seats around him. Some cheering and some not. He ducked and bobbed, then gave an uppercut to his invisible opponent. “Ha! You’re not getting up from that one!”
He then felt weak and staggered over to the far wall. The one he had designated his sleeping area. Landing against it harder than he wanted, he allowed himself to slide down it, until he was back on the floor.
The idea of being back in a prison cell was so absurd to him, that once they left theirs in New Mexico, he would have bet his life on not being incarcerated again, but here he was.
The floor was full of blood, reflecting the walls around him. “What the—” He scrambled to stand, but his feet just slid in the crimson liquid causing it to splash over him. “No, this can’t be real…” His arms and legs slid left and right over the smooth red milky substance that was now even deeper. He looked in panic as the pool of blood was rising. Managing to get to his feet, he walked across to the pipe, splashing the blood as he went. “Hey, there’s a leak in here!” He shouted while banging on the wall with his fist.
He felt the warm sticky substance lapping around his thighs. He looked down at the ripples and waves that ran across its surface, then turned and started hitting the wall again, this time harder. “Hey! Anyone out there!”
“Why did you leave us daddy?”
He froze not wanting to turn around. Then he felt a soft tug at his vest.
“Why did you let him kill us Zach?”
This voice was older. His wife. He pressed his nose up against the cold wall. No, it’s not real. I have to escape. I’m drowning. I’m—
“Zach!”
Fiona kneeled next to him. His knees were up against his chest and he was rocking back and forth. She gently put her hand on his.
“Zach, it’s me Fiona, I’m here.”
Slowly he lifted his head from his chest, his eyes wide and sorrowful. “They all died, Fiona. My family.” He looked around him. “The blood, its gone…” He then looked directly at her. “Are you real?”
She patted his hand. “I’m real.”
“How—” He then noticed the tall slim being some yards away, just where one of the cell walls used to he. “What is that!” He started to scramble backwards along the wall, stopping only when he reached the corner.
“It’s okay! That’s Klept, he’s with us.”
“What the hell is he! An E.L.F?”
“Honestly I have no idea, but he helped me find you. Can you stand? Because we need to leave and get Raj.”
Zach blinked for a moment like a lost child. Then shook his head. “Umm, yeah…” He slowly got to his feet. “Where are we?”
“We’re in some kind of detention center, oh and I think we’re in space.”
He looked at her without reacting. “Right. You got any idea where Raj is?” He said looking past Klept at the endless rows of floating gray black boxes.
“I think so. Klept found you. I think he knows we’re together and he’s pointing me to all of you.”
“Why’s he helping?” Zach staggered forward with some help from Fiona.
“I helped him escape his cell. But I think he has people here as well.”
Zach stood on the edge of the floor and looked down, then left then right. Everywhere he looked it looked the same. An infinity of cubes.
Fiona stood next to him, helping him steady himself. “You got your shit together?”
He nodded. “Where to.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Abbey opened her eyes to a dimly lit ceiling, with pipes running across it. She turned her head. There were other single beds either side of her, all empty. She looked around to see if there was anyone in the room with her, and went to pick herself off the pillow when a tiny voice at the back of her mind reminded her that her parents are almost certainly not alive anymore and that everything she had gone through to get to Boston had been for nothing.
