Nightmare Factory, page 27
Gi tapped his comms. “Clear!”
CHAPTER
SIXTY-THREE
KOVACH
I found the truck the middle of the following day. It was hot, the sun baking the roadway to hellish temps. Coming up to what seemed to pass for towns around here, I almost missed it. Granddad’s GMC was in a parking lot full of other abandoned cars. Sumo checked it out. There was a crack in the windshield and blood on the seat. Most of the gear was still in the back, but no sign of my two thieves. I suppose whatever happened was some form of karmic justice, but I shared in that karma. I’d kept something important from them. It was selfish and wrong, but I kept justifying it because to not have, would have meant giving up on any hope for my life to go on.
Glass crunched beneath my tactical boots. The store windows, just like the world beyond, now simply fragments. Destruction here was some of the worst I’d seen. My trigger finger itched, but I left my weapons stowed for now. I was in a retail district, in a small town in northern Tennessee. I was closing in on what Carol’s guess was as to the location of the Rainier complex, the Nightmare Factory. I also hadn’t forgotten about what the rancher had said, a lavender blue glow in this direction. I stepped cautiously, something about this abandoned strip mall had my spidey senses on edge. Sumo was also taking extra care in his recon.
A sound of chittering was followed by an answering scratch on the other side. The pistol was in my hand instantly and looking for targets before I was consciously aware of the threat. A plasma round flashed out and killed the beast as it jumped from a high ledge full of women’s purses. The deadly round ended the existence of the rodent-like creature mid jump. Its lifeless body slid up to my boot unmoving.
I bent down for a closer inspection. What I had assumed was a large rat, maybe a squirrel, was neither. Needle-like fangs in a head that looked less like a squirrel, maybe more like a shrew.
“Stay sharp, Kovach.”
So, the mutations were here already. Those changed things, the mutated, were no longer confined to just the fauna, it appeared. This little bastard was probably just the first of many. Where had the women gone? What had gotten them? I knew they must have run into trouble. I hated myself for even giving a shit, but… but nothing. They double crossed me, abandoned me to the wastelands, and to death if I didn’t find the meds. I owed them nothing.
Was this all just Hammer’s bio-engineered threat response, plants, animals, insects, and other things that were now something else entirely? Genetic editing had gone underground the last two decades. Now it was the living graffiti, an underground art form for the biohackers who’d been left unemployed after the new ethics laws took effect.
Sumo growled. I knew that sound. In fact, I felt it, too. “Easy, brother.” I spoke in low, steady tones despite the knowledge of what awaited. Sumo had my back as he had so many times before. A shadow moved in the corner straight ahead. I dove, just as a blur of movement passed within inches of my face. I peeled to one side and struggled to set hard sights on the target. My barrel tracked down until I saw the cluster of leaves and tendrils easing around a bit of shelving. This wasn’t the same vine as in Virginia. Maybe it was mutating, too, as it spread. Maybe this was something else altogether.
I remembered something from my childhood. Something in the woods near where we had lived that looked a lot like this. We called that one Thunder Wood, too. Basically, a super fast-growing woody vine whose stems and leaves were covered with toxic hairs. These would leave a nasty burn like a line of wasp stinging you over and over. Or if your body chemistry leaned toward allergies… it could be fatal. Of course, the vine from my childhood didn’t attack you, it stayed firmly attached to trees and only hurt if you weren’t paying attention to where you leaned or put your hands.
“Sumo, circle left.” The dog warily eyed the creeping vine and moved outside its reach in the other direction.
These mother fuckers who created this shit are going to pay. I was sure of that. I just didn’t know who to blame. Hammer or whoever attacked us. Somebody who decided the planet would be better off without humans. I heard a sound like a soda can being opened, then felt something whiz by my cheek. I instinctively ducked as the sound repeated itself, and I saw several two-inch-long thorn darts shoot past my head with the speed of an arrow in flight. Several more of the darts came my way. Most bounced off the body armor, but one made it inside. Just the point of it reached my skin, but that was enough to immediately induce searing agony.
I had the MK4 in my hands now, and I unleashed with the Rattler on full auto. Fuck operational security, fuck alerting anyone close. In the flashes of blue light, I saw the bloated pods quivering on meaty stems high on the vine, the end of the foot long pod thing resembling a shriveled green anus. It fired another round of the quills in my direction. Another anus pod rippled and seemed to track Sumo. The rifle lit it up and sprayed all the pod’s contents across the floor. Sumo barked, and I swiveled to see several more of the dangling ass-pods aiming in our direction. A chime sounded.
“Hey, sport, what are you doing, picking out a prom dress?”
“Little busy, Dad.” I had to find out how to block him from connecting whenever he wanted.
“Go with the yellow one, it will match your...”
“Dad!” I cut my old man off as I made it to the far wall and a bit of cover. Sumo tucked in behind me.
“Would you like me to call back later?”
“No!” I began, wanting him to know I was not going to be free then either.
“Good, well, what I was thinking...” began the senior Kovach, oblivious to my situation.
“Dad!” I fired from the hip at a vine that was moving itself rapidly toward Sumo.
“Is that gunfire?”
I was busy ducking another ass-pod, firing darts of toxic wooden death.
“Yes, Pops. I wandered into the Little Shop of Horrors.”
“I hated that movie,” Dad said. “Fucking musicals. They needed John Matrix in there.”
Oh, God, I thought.
“He would have ripped that fucking plant apart with his bare hands.”
I couldn’t remember which movie Schwarzenegger had played Matrix in, but I was pretty sure it was not the one with Agent Smith. Shit, why am I even thinking about this?
“If it bleeds, we can kill it.”
“It’s a plant, Pops. It doesn’t seem to bleed.”
“Well, it’s still a great line. Arnold should have won the Oscar for that one.”
I had no idea what an Oscar was, but I motioned the dog outside, and I was about to follow when I saw something. A shoe sticking out from beneath a pile of debris. Just above the shoe was the lining of something unmistakable. The battleskin base layer of a Rivex battle suit.
I tossed aside the racks of clothes and boxes until I could see the body. It was Carol, and she was in bad shape. One of the wooden darts had impaled her on the one bare spot on her neck. The blood had set, and I couldn’t see if she was breathing, but I still felt a faint pulse.
Hauling her out just ahead of a trio of the running Thunder Vines left me wondering again if I owed her anything. They’d left me. Even so, it wasn’t all her fault. She was just being a mom.
“Ada, scan interior for any other life signs.” I applied a wound seal to Carol’s neck where the giant thorn had been. “Human.” I amended.
“You are going to Rainier, aren’t you?” Pops asked. “Didn’t Iron River teach you anything?”
“What’s going on, Dad?”
The old man stayed silent for longer than normal. I expected him to tell me to get off my ass and go find out for myself.
“You need to walk away, Joe.”
“You know I can’t, Dad. You let them save me. You let these same people turn me into a living weapon, but unlike this other shit, I am flawed. I have to get meds to stay functional.”
“There may be worse things than death, Joe.”
“What the fuck does that mean? We are in the business of death, and business is fucking good right now. Tell me, Bones. What is worse than death?”
There was a long pause before my father answered.
“Not living, Son. Or… becoming what you fear.” A chirp signaled the connection was closed.
“No other human life signs, Prowler,” Ada said a moment later.
CHAPTER
SIXTY-FOUR
Her attractive face was bruised, with deep scratches along one side and across her forehead. I put my wrist computer on her and listened as Ada went through her vitals.
“Pulse is weak, breathing is shallow but regular. Oxygen levels are nominal. Heartrate is stable.”
I checked her pupils as Ada indicated.
“I believe she has a concussion and may be in shock. I will deliver a mild shock to try and wake her,” Ada said.
“Good, so this isn’t neurotoxins from the vines?” I asked.
“No, I am not detecting anything that would suggest that, Joseph.”
“Go ahead. I need to know what happened.”
The shock did little in the way of waking the woman. She moaned and tried to remove the device from her arm. Ada sent a second pulse, and then after a longer pause, a third one. Carol’s eyes flew open in an expression of terror. She tried to sit up, but my palm on her chest kept her in place. She fought against me.
“Get off me, get it off me.”
I moved my hand, but she was still fighting and screaming. She ran her hands over her head, her side, everywhere she could touch.
“You’re out of the vines. They are way back there,” I said. Unlike in Virginia, these didn’t seem to be interested in pursuit. I’d moved her out of the initial threat. Who knew vegetation could be lethal? Sumo circled farther out; he was still hyperalert to the dangers.
Carol started crying, and although no longer screaming, she was mumbling incoherently. “Carol, what happened? Where is Damiana?”
“Joe,” Ada said, “having her relive the trauma may be detrimental to her at this point.”
“Tough shit. They wrecked my truck… after they stole it.” I might feel guilty about what led up to the theft, but I was far from forgiving them for leaving me stranded. They had to know I would likely die out there on the road.
“Carol, snap out of it. Where is your friend?”
She looked around blankly, her eyes distant and glassy.
“Damiana, is she gone? Are we in danger here?”
She was looking at her hands, then met my gaze with a brief nod.
“She’s gone?”
She tried to speak; her mouth was moving, but no words came forth. I read her lips, though. Danger.
CHAPTER
SIXTY-FIVE
“Sumo. Pull back on me!” I lifted the woman, who let out a moan, but her eyes were again closed. She felt weightless in my arms. I didn’t know what the danger was, but I felt it myself. I backed slowly away from the buildings. The wild clusters of Thunder Vine were writhing in the entrance but weren’t coming closer. My eyes finally took in the full scene. Most of the buildings were covered in ever-thickening bundles of the woody vine, the thick toxic hairs digging deep into the permacrete walls. There was danger here, but it was not the weeds. It was something more primal, more basic.
I eyed the truck before realizing it was time to let it go. Trying to get it moving would simply be time we didn’t have. As my eyes moved past to the road ahead, I caught the briefest ripple of movement. When I refocused, the vehicle was the same as before. Then I felt it again, a stabbing jolt of paralyzing fear. I dropped to one knee, and my vision blurred. One part of me was aware of something peeling itself away from the truck, but it made no sense. It looked like the old jalopy was unfolding itself into thin air.
I laid Carol on the ground and struggled to get the MK4 aimed toward whatever it was in front of us. The creature’s camouflage was nearly perfect. I could see the scene beyond with only a small shimmer around the edges of what looked like giant wings but… not quite wings.
“You are the beast, the Wraith of my nightmare at Iron River.” I tried to fire the round, missing it entirely.
Distantly, I heard Ada saying something about an ammo change. Then the rifle barked twice more. The Wraith was briefly illuminated, then it was gone. With it, the paralyzing fear.
“We brought that damn thing here. We brought it with us all that way.”
I looked down at the limp form of Carol Reynolds, understanding some of what must have happened. “I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes began to slowly open like shades being pulled open before you’re ready to face the day.
“Kovach.”
Her voice was weak and filled with fear, or maybe regret.
“I’m here. I think we are safe. The… the wraith thing is gone.”
She seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. Her head gave a slight nod. I raised the water flask up, and she took a long drink.
“Where is Dami?”
Carol shook her head. “No idea, she was driving. I heard her scream, then I saw something, that thing. We both…” She shook off any more water and looked up at me.
“I’m sorry we left you. We stole your truck.”
I wiped away a streak of blood from her face and looked for the source. She needed to confess, it seemed. My anger was gone, but I decided to just let her say what she needed to get out.
“Dami said she thought you had some way of communicating this whole time. Something they had put into your body. That you probably knew about my son the entire time. She also said you would never take me to see him. I think she wanted to get to Rainier before you.”
That made no sense to me. The only reason we had come here was for me to get my drug pack. I motioned Sumo back and noticed the vines were now advancing again. We were going to have to move.
“How did she…?” I wanted to ask how she screwed with Ada but didn’t much want to admit to what she had just said.
“How did she convince me to help her?” Carol offered weakly.
It wasn’t my question, but I nodded. “Lux. She just made me focus on getting to him. Kept telling me he could be out there all alone.”
That made sense. I really couldn’t blame her—either of them. I had kept Ada on constant alert for any sign of the boy and Bayou’s sister, but no one had popped up with any activity so far. Of course, there wasn’t a lot of the internet left to access, but eventually, survivors would reach out even if it was just to buy a drink at a curbside vending machine.
I helped her to her feet. She seemed to be marginally better. Ada had run a full diagnostic on the truck and declared it beyond repair. I patted it as I pulled the gear out and added what I could to my ruck, strapping it back on. I carried Carol’s and left the other stuff in the bed of the truck. The Thunder Vine had moved about fifty yards closer but seemed to slow. We began moving in the opposite direction. I didn’t think we could outrun it, but maybe there were some natural barriers it couldn’t cross. Right now, I was more concerned with our stowaway monster.
Our safe zone turned out to be a stretch of barren rock face about two miles to the east. I left sensors that would pick up the noise the vines made, and we made camp. I treated Carol’s wounds again. Nothing appeared life threatening, but I hated the involuntary wince she gave as I applied the treatment.
“Why are you being kind to me?”
She’d slept several hours and now was eating some of the last of our food. I looked at her, then up to the campfire reflecting off her and the surrounding forest.
“Carol, Damiana is right.”
The woman just looked at me with a look of incomprehension.
“I have a… my comms system is…” Shit, no way I could say this that didn’t make me seem any better, any less an asshole. “The military put a comms system in my head. It can do things. I call it Ada.”
“So, you do have a way of connecting, communicating with authorities?”
I nodded, “There really is no authority right now, and the sat links have been mostly down, but yes.”
“You knew the whole time that my son was on his own, didn’t you?”
I’d been dressed down by some of the toughest officers in the Corps, making me relive my many fuck-ups in painstaking detail, but I never felt as small and worthless as a human as this moment. “Yes.”
I poked a stick at the fire, wanting to make an excuse, but the truth was I was a selfish prick. I wanted to live. I needed to find the goddam meds, and in doing so, I had kept a mom from looking for her lost child.
“It won’t make you feel any better, but I do have alerts set-up to track any sign of him. Nothing has come in so far.”
“So, we have no idea where he might be?” she asked as her eyes grew heavy with tears.
“He could be anywhere,” I admitted. She wailed and leaned up against me. I pulled her close and let her cry. The wracking sobs of the mother wrecked me, gutted me, as my friend Highsmith would have said. It was the most heart-wrenching sound I think I’d ever heard.
“I was a terrible mother,” she said after a while. “An inattentive wife and an absentee mother.”
I dried the tears from her face with my hand. “I don’t believe that.”
“It’s true, I loved my work. I mean, I love Lux, too, but the school and his nanny, Marcie, did all the heavy lifting. I didn’t have to do much myself, just place orders and make schedules.”
I kissed the top of her head, unsure of when or how we had suddenly become so close. “I know that’s not true, Carol. You’re tough, determined. I have a feeling Lux is a lot like you.”
“He, he’s a good boy. He likes to please, which makes being his mom great. His father was a bit of a rogue. I always feared he’d be more like him.” She looked away for a moment. “I guess he’s gone now, isn’t he?”
