The City Unseen, page 13
part #2 of The Unseen Series
“That’s not normal, is it?” he asked.
Rachel shook her head and stepped towards him, taking in each compartment. She took a deep breath and gagged. “Some of them have been in here a while,” she coughed. “The computer records have huge numbers coming in over the last few months, but only lists sixteen bodies that are supposed to be in here. The rest should have been buried. They were buried, on paper. It looks like the families had funerals and everything.”
I covered my nose from the smell now pouring out of each of the compartments. “Someone’s been hiding bodies in here, keeping them in storage,” I said, stating the obvious. “They’ve been affected by the same thing as the creatures in the tunnel. All the bodies I looked at had those strange, black eyes.”
“Maybe they’re keeping them for research,” Rachel said, “Tracking whatever’s happened to them.” She walked back to the computer and tabbed to an open file. “Look at this,” she said. “It’s the official autopsy report. The brain was affected in each of the bodies who died during arrest. The notes say the amygdalae, specifically, but how they’ve been affected is redacted.”
She brought up a search window and typed in “amygdalae”. Multiple results came up, and she opened the first one.
Noah moved to Rachel and looked over her shoulder, reading aloud from the entry. “The amygdalae are responsible for emotional processing. There are two amygdala, one on each side of the brain. Together, they moderate and produce fear, anxiety, joy, sadness, anger; a whole range of emotions. They are also involved in fight or flight stimulus, which is our automatic response to either attack or run away when confronted with dangerous situations. Anger and violent behaviour were reported in monkeys who experienced damage to their amygdalae…” he trailed off, and looked over his shoulder. “Wait a minute.”
Noah walked to one of the drawers, a big one that looked more like a chest freezer. “I opened this before but didn’t think it was important.” He picked out blue latex gloves from a box on the wall and slipped them on. “This is gonna be gross, but…”
Reaching into the freezer chest, he pulled out a metal tray with something white and fleshy on it.
“Is that…” Rachel took a step towards Noah. “Is that a brain?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” he said. “Human, I think. Taken from one of the subjects during the autopsy. It’s got a cut down the middle. I didn’t take a closer look before because it was disgusting.”
I walked closer to him and the tray, and he placed it on the aluminium table next to the male body we’d saved from falling. The brain was frozen, so it wasn’t squelchy or bleeding, but it was still one of the grossest things I’d ever seen, its snakelike rivers running across the top. The sulci, I suddenly remembered from science.
Grimacing, Noah placed a hand on each side of the brain and pulled it apart. It had been sliced perfectly down the centre during the autopsy.
“I don’t think it’s supposed to look like that,” Rachel said slowly.
Cross-sectioned into the brain were two huge, dark sacs that took up at least half of the surface. Black streaks reached out from them into the rest of the brain, running through the tissue like veins.
“Are those the amygdalae?” I said.
Noah nodded. “Yeah, that spot in the brain is where they’re supposed to be, according to the wiki entry at least.”
“What happened to them?” I said.
“I don’t know,” he frowned, “but whatever it is, it’s messed up, and almost definitely responsible for those creatures in the tunnels.”
Suddenly the bright overhead lights switched on. We were not alone.
Footsteps sounded from the corridor outside. They must have switched on the lights from the entrance. There were at least two people coming. Maybe more. We had no way out, except the way they were coming.
“I’ll freeze the lock and stall them,” snapped Rachel. “You two get that brain and the bodies put away then find a place to hide.”
Noah closed all the doors and threw the brain into the freezer chest. I pushed the tray back into the fridge, hiding the male and female I’d inspected. There was still a body on the table, but I had no idea what to do with it. The footsteps reached the front door, and the door handle rattled.
“Door’s stuck,” said a muffled man’s voice from outside.
Rachel gave us a thumbs up. She’d made the lock sticky, buying us time. Not much time, though.
“Here,” she whispered and grabbed the body on the table. Noah helped her put him into the freezer, and they closed the lid quietly.
“Our packs,” I said frantically, pointing to our bags which were on the floor in the middle of the room. Noah picked them up and threw them into the freezer too.
The door lock rattled more.
“Bloody hell,” said another male voice. “The maintenance on this place is shocking.”
“There are two empty drawers at the back of the room,” Noah hissed. “Only option.”
We ran to them, and Noah pulled open the door to the first compartment.
“Dammit,” he said, “Got it wrong. It’s occupied.”
Two grey feet stuck out at the end, belonging to the body inside.
“Doesn’t matter,” said Rachel. “I’ll take this one.”
“Really?” Noah said.
The door lock rattled again.
“No time. Get in!” she said, and crawled feet first into the compartment, trying to avoid contact with the body inside. Noah slid it closed for her.
Then, Noah and I got into the second, empty compartment. He was bigger than me, so he slid in first, putting his feet towards the back of the fridge.
The voice outside the door swore, and the lock rattled again.
I slid in next to Noah, lying on my side, and pulling the door closed from inside. But I left it open a fraction, terrified that we’d get locked in and never get out.
There was a thump, and the entrance slammed open. We’d left no trace of our presence, save a few misplaced items. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice and search the room.
“Finally,” muttered the voice. I couldn’t see anything, but he sounded old. “Need to get maintenance onto that. If they ever bother getting around to it.”
The tray inside the fridge was cold and stuck to my skin. I was lying on my left side, facing Noah, and my arm was going numb.
“Which stiff did they want us to look at?” asked a younger voice.
“Seventeen. John somebody. He’s in the bottom drawer, two from the left.”
Far away from us. Good.
There was a click, then some grunting and heaving, and the slap of flesh on metal.
The older voice spoke again. “See, here. Excess hair growth. That suggests more than just amygdalae corruption. It’s spread to other parts of the brain. Pituitary gland or thyroid, probably.”
“Wheeler will be pleased.”
“Wheeler? The art guy?”
“He’s been working on this for a long time. Now the effects are certain, we can proceed to stage two.”
“Wait. I thought this was a virus.” The old man sounded genuinely shocked. “They said we were keeping this quiet to avoid panicking the public.”
The younger man laughed. “That’s adorable. You’ve gotta be a special kind of dumb to buy that crap.”
There was a thump, and a struggle, then a horrible, gagging noise, like someone choking. Then, nothing.
“It’s me,” the younger voice said. “We’re ready. Tell Wheeler stage two can proceed.” A pause. “The final demonstration is tonight? Excellent. The gallery entrance will likely be watched by Unseen vermin, so use the backup instead. The Unseen aren’t a threat, but we can’t afford distractions.” Another pause. “He’s dead, obviously. I’m going to put him in storage. It will buy us a few days before anyone finds the body. Not that we’ll need days. By this time tomorrow, this city will burn.” His phone beeped as he hung up.
The entrance door opened again, then closed with a click. There was silence.
Neither of us dared to move. Noah was pressed up against me, body heat radiating through my skin. The compartment was so tight we had to alternate our breathing. I could feel his heart beating in his chest, thumping against my ribcage, pulsing through my body. His breath was warm on my cheek. This didn’t feel romantic, though. His eyes were dark, and so were mine.
The voice had said tomorrow. By this time tomorrow, the city would burn. We didn’t have long to stop whatever Wheeler had planned. If we could get to this demonstration, maybe we could stop it.
The vision I’d had in the Chapel had shown a city in chaos. Maybe it was Coleton. Maybe, tomorrow, Noah would be lying in a pool of his own blood as the city died around us.
I clenched my jaw.
No way.
While I still had breath, I’d fight that future.
TWENTY-FIVE
Minutes passed before any of us dared to move. There was a click from the compartment next to ours, and the rustling of clothes. Our compartment door opened, and Noah and I looked up at Rachel, standing over us with her hands on her hips.
“How was your seven minutes in heaven?” she smirked.
Noah grinned back. “Better than yours, I bet.” He pointed to her shirt, which had some dark lines on it in the shape of a Y. “There’s bits on you.”
“Dammit,” she frowned. “It stinks too.”
“I’ve got a spare shirt in my pack,” I offered, before crawling out. I kneed Noah in the crotch by accident, and he groaned.
“Well,” said Rachel. “You two did have a good time in there.”
Noah tried to respond, but couldn’t, whimpering instead.
Sorry, I mouthed.
“I’ll be out when I’m ready,” he grunted, waving me away. I walked to the freezer chest to remove my pack, sidestepping a fresh puddle of blood on the floor that likely belonged to the older man. It was careless of the killer, not cleaning up after himself. Perhaps it didn’t matter and whatever he had planned was already in motion.
I found the spare shirt in my pack and threw it to Rachel, who took her dirty one off and put it in one of the fridges. Her chest was covered in scars and melted burn marks. I swallowed.
Rachel caught me staring at the damage and frowned, turning around to put on the black shirt I’d given her. Her back was scarred too, full of lines and splotches from her torture in the Kindred complex. No wonder she was sharp with me. The things they’d done to her…
She put the shirt on, then gave Noah a hand crawling out of the compartment.
“Grab your things,” she said. “We’re going to the gallery. That’s our way in to whatever Wheeler’s planning.”
The corridor was quiet, and we left the morgue without incident. The gallery was about ten minutes away by car, but Rachel took an alternate route to make sure we weren’t being followed. While she drove, we made plans for our next move.
“The man said the gallery was an entrance,” Rachel said. “An entrance to what, though?”
Noah pulled out his phone and started typing. A minute later, he looked up. “Got it. Look at this.”
He turned his phone to me. There were a bunch of crisscrossing lines on it. “This,” he pointed to the red one, “is the closed rail line. The one we were on last night.”
“Where did you find that?” Rachel called from the front.
“A website called the Coleton Rail Enthusiast Club. They mapped the tunnels years ago, probably before they got so dangerous.”
“Look,” I said. “That huge red space. That must be the old station that never got built. The lake where Josh…”
Noah nodded sadly. “Yes, it’s all connected. But watch this.” He pulled up a map of the city and swiped between the two. “This pin here is Elements Gallery,” he swiped left, “And this is the old rail line.”
“It runs right underneath the gallery,” I said.
“Exactly.”
“The entrance must be in the basement somewhere,” said Rachel.
Noah leaned forward between the front seats to talk to her. “Last time we were there, it was full of kids, plus that crazy girl who attacked Ari.”
“If they think we’re watching the gallery, it’ll probably be empty,” I said. “Although I have no desire to run into Eden again.” As if on cue, my arm twinged from the knife wound.
“He’s probably fixed the front window I vaped,” said Noah, “but we could use the loading dock.”
“We should keep an eye out for traps,” I warned.
“You’re right,” said Rachel. “Thinking like a soldier. That’s good.”
I wasn’t sure just how good it was, but I smiled anyway. A compliment from Rachel was rare.
Rachel pulled the van into an alleyway two blocks away from the gallery, and we sat still for a while to make sure we hadn’t been followed.
“I think we’re good,” she said and unclicked her seatbelt before getting out.
Noah and I followed, slinging our backpacks over our shoulders and sliding the van door open. The door closed with a metallic thunk that echoed down the dark alley we were parked in.
There was a clatter next to me, and I jumped back as a mottled cat ran from behind a bin. It reminded me of the tabby the creature had been eating in the tunnel, and I shuddered.
Elements Gallery was halfway down the second back street, and we stopped at the alley entrance to check for an ambush.
“I’ll do it,” I said, so Noah and Rachel closed their eyes while I tried to tune. The tones were clear, no static at all, although Wheeler’s pulsing tone still ran beneath it all.
“No static, no-one’s watching,” I said. “Let’s move.”
“We should still go slowly in case of traps,” Rachel said in a whisper. “A tripwire would be hard to pick up with our abilities, so keep an eye out.”
Two doors from the loading dock, Noah stopped.
“Look,” he whispered, pointing to the ground a few steps away. In the moonlight, a wire glistened just above the ground.
“You were right,” I said to Rachel, tracing the tripwire with my eyes to a piece of black metal stuck to the wall.
“Claymore mine,” she replied. “Nasty stuff. It’s pointing straight at us. Hit that tripwire, and we’re ripped to shreds.”
“Can we vape it?” I asked.
“Not a good idea. If it’s Kindred modified, who knows what safeguards they’ve built into the system. Best just leave it alone and step carefully over.”
Rachel took the lead, slowly lifting each foot over the wire.
“Rachel, wait!” The asphalt road had been disturbed in a long trench just after the tripwire, right where Rachel was.
A beeping sounded from beneath the road. She was standing on a mine.
“Close your eyes, both of you,” I yelled.
“There’s no time,” said Rachel.
“Shut up and do it!” I snapped.
They did, and I tuned into the road, lowering the temperature of the asphalt and the mine beneath. I had to get it low enough to freeze the detonator. Hopefully there wasn’t a failsafe built in to prevent it.
The asphalt froze solid, but the mine kept beeping.
“Run,” said Rachel. “Get away, now!”
“No chance,” I said. “I’m not losing someone else.”
I lowered the resonance even further, and the beeping stopped.
Rachel opened her eyes. “Did you get it?”
I shook my head, forehead sweating. “I don’t know.”
“Only one way to find out. Both of you get back.”
Noah and I moved away, hopefully out of the blast radius.
Rachel lifted one foot from the road, then dove over the tripwire towards us, skinning her elbows on the road’s surface.
Nothing happened.
She stood and walked towards us. “Well done, I think we’re—”
The road lifted behind her, thrusting chunks of rock into the air. A jet of flame blasted through the surface and triggered the tripwire, which set off the claymore mine, throwing Rachel to the ground. Debris and fire slammed across the alleyway, and the sound hit me in the chest. I staggered backwards.
“Rachel!” I yelled, but I couldn’t hear my voice. There was nothing but ringing in my ears. Rachel lay on the road, and I ran to see her.
She slowly rolled over.
“Are you okay?” I yelled. I still couldn’t hear anything.
Rachel moved her mouth, but I had no idea what she was saying. I shook my head, and she gave me a thumbs up instead.
Noah joined me next to Rachel, and we grabbed her hands and pulled her upright. None of us could hear each other talk. Staggering back to the van, we jumped inside to catch our breath and let our ears recover.
Finally, the ringing subsided enough to hold a conversation.
“Nice dive,” said Noah, although he was still yelling to compensate for our hearing loss.
“Thanks.” Rachel turned to me. “And thanks, Ari. If you hadn’t bought time by freezing the mine…”
“Don’t mention it,” I said. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Reckon anyone heard it?” Noah said.
Rachel sat up, rubbing her sore elbows. “Kindred are likely on their way. If we’re going to go, we need to go now. Hopefully there’s no more traps.”
“I think all the buildings are connected,” I said. “The loading dock had a door leading into the next space. If we use those, we might be safer.”
“Good plan,” she said. “Who knows what else they’ve got waiting for us on the street.”
We got back out of the van and stopped three doors from the gallery dock. The lock on the rolling door was easy to melt, and we made it inside without incident. I snuck one more look at the giant hole in the road before we went in, flames still flickering from inside. The Kindred had some serious weapons at their disposal, and we had tasers.
How on earth were we supposed to win this?
