Inferno (The Glitch Book 2), page 10
A sign announced Roswell was only ten miles away and a palpable sigh of relief ran through the cramped people on the bus.
“What’s that up ahead?” said Alexis now leaning over Mike at the front, to better see.
“Look’s like a roadblock,” he said.
Two large container trucks were parked across the lanes, with only enough of a gap for one vehicle in-between, which itself was blocked by a smaller pickup. Three vehicles were already in a queue to be let into the city. Brad slowed the bus and stopped behind the brown pickup, with a heap of wooden crates in the back, some of which were filled with chickens. The checkpoint was manned by mostly civilians, but Mike spotted one military clad individual who had a small yellow box, which he was holding towards the vehicles.
“Geiger counter,” said Brad.
“Open the door,” said Mike. “I’ll go and let them know who we are.” The door slid open.
“I’ll go with you,” said Alexis.
“Hold on there,” said Holland awkwardly standing, but the other two had already starting walking away. He grumbled something and stepped off the bus as quickly as he could, and limped after them. “Wait up damnit!”
Mike and Alexis didn’t bother and walked past the other vehicles but slowed as the people at the checkpoint raised an array of weapons in their direction. They held their hands up.
“I’m special agent Mike Richter—” For the first in a long time, describing what he did for a living felt off somehow. “— and this is special agent Alexis—”
Holland walked past them. “Yeah, yeah, we know who you both are.” The colonel smiled and waved his arms. “And I’m Colonel Holland, who was stationed at Sulerosa, and oversaw operation ‘Flycatcher.’” He ignored the confused looking two men and one woman and focused on the private. “I’m going to assume son you know what that means?”
The young man’s eyes grew wide and Mike could of sworn he saw him gulp. The soldier nodded and lifted a radio to his mouth and starting talking.
After the soldier checked them and everyone else on the bus for radiation, the large yellow vehicle was allowed through, and they traveled past parking lots and fields full of tents and vehicles, which were lit by the bright morning sun.
“So this is where everyone went,” said Dawn in her seat near the front.
“Looks like thousands are here,” said Brad.
Mike stood on the step with Alexis just above him. Holland had stayed off the bus, preferring to catch a ride in the Humvee back to whatever military headquarters had been set up in the city, and Mike didn’t protest. He had half expected the streets to be empty. That would fit the end of the world scenario, but instead despite it being shortly after sunup, they were teeming with people and vehicles. Car horns sounded off as people argued, trucks and sedans trying to find a place to park up, while others ran along the sidewalks, multiple bags in their arms, with small children trying to keep up.
They passed gas stations with signs pronouncing there was no fuel, and other hoardings whose advertising had been replaced with advice as to where to go for shelter, food and water.
“Follow that sign,” said Mike to Brad. “Looks like there’s a place on Main Street where we can stop, and hopefully these people can find a place.”
As they moved deeper into the city, the roads became more clogged with vehicles, some seemingly abandoned. Brad did his best to find a route around them, finally turning onto the main road.
Modern multistory buildings, some of which were covered in splattering of graffiti mentioning some people’s desire to be taken to another planet by the ‘aliens’, were now at the edge of the road. Most of the stores were boarded up but those not, had lines of people, four deep stretching around the block.
“Up there on the left,” said Brad pointing to the directions the signs were giving them for a hostel. Brad weaved the bus around the chaos of people and cars until a five story building loomed above them. It too with masses of people at its base.
Mike turned to the people in the seats behind him. “This appears to be the place where you can stay. I don’t know if they will have room, but I guess you need to get in line and wait your turn.”
Rumblings of disapproval rippled across the anxious faces, but one by one they started to get to their feet, children in tow, and walked off the bus.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Elias’s eyes struggled to stay open despite the bright morning sun and blue sky with only a few whispers of cloud. Everyone apart from the virtual teen were asleep. The landscape was now devoid of any features, allowing for a view for miles in all directions.
“You should pull over and rest. I will keep watch,” said Travis.
The idea of how he would do that despite being asleep Elias did not want to think too hard about. He blinked and rubbed his eye. “I’m fine. I’ll sleep some when we get you to your father. When you get the hell out of my brain.” He looked at the rear mirror waiting for the young man’s reaction, but there wasn’t any.
“He should have already arrived in the city…”
“Just want I wanted to—”
“Pull over!”
“What?”
“Do it quickly!”
Elias did as asked, the truck skidding slightly on the sandy surface just off the side of the two lane road. Travis was already standing outside.
“You need to take a leak or something?” Elias said to the driver’s door window.
The young man walked backwards. “You need to get out.”
“Why do I need to get out?” Elias looked at the miles of beige and light green nothingness.
“Follow me! I… I can sense him.”
“Who? Your father?”
He shook his head. “No, Mictlantecuhtli!”
Elias pushed his door open, and placed his boot on the dusty ground. “Uh?”
“That’s what it… he is called! I think he’s close, but if you come over here to this phone pylon, I can confirm.”
Madeline lifted her head, opening her eyes to Elias. “Why are we stopping... What… does he want you to do?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Hell if I know. Follow him to that pole.”
“Be careful.”
“Yup.” Elias stood, and looked again at the frosty desert. Travis was already standing a hundred feet away at the base of the wooden post, waving him over. Elias grumbled and then walked out onto the grass and sand and stepped between small bushes, until he was just a few feet away from Travis and the pylon.
“I need you to touch this metal clasp on the pole. I should be able to use it to connect to the network.”
“Umm… this isn’t going to hurt, right?”
“No. Quickly, every second we waste he gets closer to my father.”
Elias sighed. “Okay then.” He took a few paces forward and tentatively placed two fingers on the small rectangular piece of metal. At first all he felt was the cold of the reflective surface but then… “What the fuck!” He was in the air, approximately two hundred feet above then ground, looking down at his truck, which now looked like a toy. He waved his arms and legs, and went to shout again, when he was even higher, a thousand feet up. He could see the buildings of Roswell and how the desert had been partitioned into farmland. His heart was beating out of his chest.
“Relax,” said Travis. “You are not actually in the air. Your feet are firmly on the ground still Elias.”
“Well it sure as shit feels… looks like I’m floating in the damn—” Suddenly even the familiarity of the New Mexican landscape was taken from him, replaced with darkness, lines, and tiny blue dots, some of which looked as if they were moving. Elias realized he was inside Travis’s mind. “This… is…”
“Can you see to the west?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“You see the larger of the blue dots. The one that is pulsing?”
“Yes.”
“That is Mictlantecuhtli. He is part of the AI.”
“I don’t understand.” Elias thought he heard Travis sigh.
“It only takes a few grams of the AI nanites to infect a host. To take basic control of the motor functions.”
“To create a zombie?”
“Exactly. But with more nanites come greater control of the host’s brain, particularly the cerebral cortex, the higher functioning and thinking.”
“A thinking zombie?”
“Yeah. The AI will do this to create… more advanced machines… generals to lead its army. One of these already exists, and is calling itself Mictlanete—”
“Just call it Mict.” Elias noticed a small stream of blue particles had left a greater hub, and was moving towards them.
“It has been tasked to find my father, and as you can see is already in Roswell.”
Elias, ignoring the dots that had formed a line, looked beyond what he thought was Roswell, to what was almost completely blue. “So… west of Roswell, there are…”
“Trillions of nanites, all trying to find each other. The clumps are where the AI has been in successful in doing so.”
“And… what happens if—”
“You need to let go now.”
Elias looked at his hand, which he was pretty sure wasn’t real. “Let go?” The tiny pieces of glowing blue dust were now thicker, growing in size.
“Yes, you need to let go of the pole, unless you want the AI to locate you and me, take control of us both and make you a… zombie.”
“What? How do I—” A cool breeze brushed across his face and the desert was back. He turned to Madeline who had her hand on his shoulder.
“You were shouting, but were still holding on…” she said. “I pulled you back.”
Elias took a deep breath. “Thank you.” He looked around for Travis. The young man was already seated in the back of the truck, next to Becky and Brillo whose head was just visible.
“What was all that about?”
Elias starting walking back. “Nothing good.”
*****
“Have you seen my son?” A thirty something woman, with dirty blonde hair, pushed a small printed photo, a few inches in front of Mike’s face.
“Sorry, I haven’t.”
She pushed open the police station door to the outside, and immediately walked to the next person along the sidewalk. Mike and Alexis walked to the counter, which allowed a view of the office behind it. A few desks were manned by two male and one female officer, all of which were talking on the phone and writing notes. The glass screen above the counter was covered in photos and notices, giving out advice of how to find missing people and to avoid ‘People with blue eyes.’
A door marked ’Staff only’ opened and a middle-aged man in police uniform, with a strong head of white hair, and a matching mustache appeared with a clipboard in his hand. He looked at the waiting room’s two occupants. “Government, right?”
Mike smiled and held his hand out, which the man shook. “Special agent Mike Richter and Alexis Adams.” Mike saw the flash of recognition in the man’s eyes.
“Gill Sawyer, chief of police in Roswell. I saw you two mentioned on the TV… when there was TV. Thought you’d be in Washington, helping coordinate things?”
“We were out west, close to the detonations—” Gill went to take a step back. Mike raised his hand. “We were checked over at the gate out to the west of the city.” Mike gestured to the notice. “You been having problems with individuals with blue eyes?”
The chief paused momentarily as if he was assessing how much he could say. “Some. The General—”
“General?”
“The army runs the city, and General Silva runs the army. At least here he does.”
“How long has it been like that?”
“They rolled in about three days ago, just before the detonations. But I thought you would know that?”
Mike looked at Alexis. “We lost touch with people.”
“Right, well, the army has taken over the Goodfield Bank building, about three blocks to the north. It’s the tallest building in Roswell. As far as I know you’re the only FBI in the city, which I guess makes you my boss.”
Mike shook his head. “You’re the chief, but once we get some rest we’ll be happy to help out, how we can. Has anyone contacted you from the El Paso office?”
Gill smiled. “Like I said, only government we’ve had any contact with is the army.”
“Do you mind if I use one of your phones to make some calls?”
“Be my guest, but nobody has been able to reach anyone since the nukes were dropped.” He knocked on the glass. A slim male officer with high cheekbones looked up. “Get these two some coffee, and give them a phone.” The young man frowned, then got up. Mike thought about refusing the generous offer but his body was crying out for the caffeine hit, so instead he said thanks.
A short while later, with Alexis he was sat in another room, a back office with two desks, with name plates mentioning ‘detectives.’
Alexis placed a receiver down, shaking her head. Her mane of dark hair looked fuller than usual, and she swept her hands through it, placing it behind her ears. “Maybe the military can put us through. I’m sure the A.D. is going to want to talk to us…”
Mike rested his head on the back of tall padded chair, placing his feet on the desk. “Everyone’s going to have to wait.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The door to the small office opened startling Mike awake. His feet fell from the desk and he tried to see through blurred eyes at who was entering.
Alexis was standing in the doorway with two steaming plastic cups. Behind her were others. “I got a message through to Washington,” she said while placing one cup on the desk in front of him. The aroma of coffee started to clear some of the cobwebs from his mind. Brad, Dawn and Daryl were behind her, each with a tired smile. They found what room they could, while Alexis closed the door. “And got one back, which is why I invited everyone here.”
Mike sat up straighter in the chair. “What’d they say?”
“They haven’t got any other agents within five hundred miles of here, so they want us to stay in the field. Basically act as a go between, for local law enforcement and the military. ‘Give the general our full cooperation.’”
Mike tried taking a sip of the coffee but gave up, it being too hot. “And what does that mean exactly?”
She shrugged.
“What about the rest of us?” said Dawn.
“Assist us with us assisting others…”
Dawn sighed. “Would have been nice to get back home.”
“Do the locals know about the AI and what it can do to people?” said Daryl.
“I don’t know,” said Mike. “But they know to stay away from people with blue eyes.” He glanced at the door. “Where’s Reed?” He managed to be more successful with his cooling beverage.
“Last I saw, she was heading towards the army headquarters with Meyer,” said Brad.
“What about the kids? Constance and the boy…”
“Kevin,” said Dawn.
“Yeah, anyone seen them?”
No one had.
“They got in the queue at the hostel,” said Dawn.
Mike looked into the spinning froth of his hot drink. “I want them with us.” He looked at Brad and Dawn. “Do you think you can find them? Bring them back?”
Brad nodded.
“We’re going to need some method of communication,” said Daryl.
“Yup,” said Mike. “Do what you can to get us some two-way radios. The police here might have some spare, if not try the military.”
Daryl nodded.
Mike went to speak again when a knock came at the door. It opened to the red cheeks of the chief. “Hope I’m not disturbing you folks—” He looked at Mike. “But I was hoping to have a chat with you.”
The others got up to leave.
“I’m going to try and find somewhere for us to all sleep tonight,” said Alexis.
“Try the motel four blocks to the east. Tell Angie that Gill sent you.”
Alexis smiled and with the others left, until it was just the two men.
Gill nodded towards Mike’s half filled cup. “I should have warned you about the coffee.”
“Good thing I’m too tired to taste it.”
Gill sat on the only other chair, turning it around to face the desk in front of Mike. “The other agent told me of the message she got from the higher-ups. So you really are in charge then.”
“That’s not how it’s going to work, chief. You know your city. What kind of work have your officers been doing since the army arrived?”
“Crowd control mostly. People fighting over food, water, fuel. There’s been a few break-ins.”
“Yeah, I noticed I’m in your detective’s office. Where are they?”
“Ruiz was taking some vacation time when the bombs dropped. Far as I know he’s south of here, and Carlson is… well, he’s locked up in our holding cell downstairs.”
“What’d he do?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. When you arrived here, you mentioned people with blue eyes?”
“Yes…” The chief’s eyes darted around as if he was reluctant to share what he knew. Mike continued for him. “The people with blue eyes, are not themselves…”
Gill looked at him and nodded. “Doc Greene looked at Carlson, couldn’t find any reason for why he was acting crazy. I even asked the army about it, but they gave me squat. So all we could do is lock him in downstairs for his own good. There’s been reports of others who have been acting weird, like they are drugged, some are even violent. On the radio, I heard it’s the same across the central states. So… what do you know about that?”
Mike had always been a good judge of character, something which if you were not born with, you quickly learned how to do being in law enforcement, and he judged the chief positively. He got up, slid the small latch across on the door and sat back down, then took a long sip of his coffee, while the chief looked on concerned. “I’m going to tell you what I discovered not so long ago, at a cult’s compound in Missouri.”
