For some
reason a great compulsion came across me not to go anywhere near
him. The dead seemed to have this annoying little habit of getting
up and walking around whilst I was about. I left Abigail and Harris
to it. They seemed to be perfectly at ease with the body of their
friend lying next to them. Well perhaps not perfectly at ease, but
they seemed to be dealing with it a lot better than I was.
In a huge act
of courage, excuse the sarcasm, I walked away from my fears and
went to join Aeniah and Sean in the drivers compartment. ‘So how
far do we have to go?’ I asked.
‘Not that
far,’ replied Sean. ‘Aeniah and I are thinking of disembarking at
the penultimate station to the Commercial District and walking the
rest of the way down the lines. This will significantly increase
our ability to remain relatively covert.’
‘Aeniah, why
did our guns give out just then? We are not going to be of any use
unless we can actually return fire.’
‘The guns are
powered by Blue Clarity. Blue Clarity functions by drawing a very
small amount of power from the Promethean Layer. This tiny amount
of power is allowed to decay in a reaction chamber until it
releases electricity in huge quantities. It stands to reason that
anything distributing or containing significant quantities of the
Promethean Layer’s energy may well be able to disrupt our weapons’
energy production.’
‘But wait just
a moment,’ I said to her, ‘you’re telling me that that thing was
casting?’
‘No, not at
all. Look George, that thing should have been dead. From the
cerebral scarring that Sean detected we have concluded that he was
probably a heavy user. It seems that the Promethean Layer doesn’t
just give you the power of a god, it can bring you back from the
dead. Motherfucker must have been conserving his energy ‘till he
had something to kill. The only way to take them down seems to be
to shoot them in the head. The body can't move without the
brain.’
Sean
interrupted close to hysterics. ‘That is exactly right. The
caster's store the energy within their brains. This remnant of the
Promethean Layer is what is keeping them alive. Damaging the brain,
even a little, will result in the loss of this energy. Taking away
this energy is rather like shutting off the life support system to
an intensive care patient.’
Aeniah rolled
her eyes. ‘Yes,’ she said sarcastically, ‘it is
exactly
like
killing the elderly and infirm.’
The train
ground to a halt with a screech. We looked about but saw no
station, everywhere was pitch black.
‘Strange,’
said Sean, ‘the station should be on our right.’ I raised my lancer
and with relief I saw that it had come to life. The screen swiped
to night vision. Through the green haze I could make out the tall
distinctive columns of the station. Aeniah appeared to see the same
thing and she relaxed a little. Abigail and Harris were very tense.
I moved over to them and motioned for them to come close to me. The
tram was emitting too much light. If anything was out there in the
darkness they would be able to see us a mile off. My lancer swiped
to thermal but nothing was visible.
Each of us
silently climbed out of the window. The tram creaked and hissed.
Aeniah and I were now the only effective combative force, the
others could not use the flashlights on their rifles for fear of
giving away our position. The station made no sound. The air seemed
to be thick, as if it had not been circulated in years. I reminded
myself that given the damage done to these sections it was very
possible that I was breathing in the same air that the citizens of
Ascension were breathing all of those years ago.
We softly
stepped along the side of the tram. Still there was no noise, no
movement on my scope. Sean had shut off his little blue light. When
I took my eyes away from the scope I saw just how dark the tunnel
that we were heading towards was. There was literally no way that I
could see further than a foot in front of me.
We were in the
tunnel now. The lights from the tram had fed off into the distance.
Abigail had placed her hand around my waist so that I would
navigate her through the tunnel and Harris had placed his around
Aeniah. I was not certain at first how Aeniah was navigating. She
had no scope and no flashlight to see with. It was then that I
heard her whispering to Sean and complaining about his camera
angle. She must be seeing a visual feed from Sean’s camera. I
started to pay attention again. The scope was revealing little of
interest, a pipe here, a pipe there. The journey so far had seemed
to take an age.
Gradually,
ever so gradually, I began to see an end to the tunnel. The pipes
and rails seemed to end at a grey blur. This, I was sure, would be
the end of the line. The shapes began to grow into many shapes. And
each of those shapes gradually became more defined. A series of
structures perhaps?
I stared
intently down the scope awaiting the promise of treasures Ascension
had been so keen to make us aware of. I almost didn’t notice the
targeting reticule go red. That was strange. The reticule only went
red when there was a target present. Sean had said that it would
recognise most targets and use a series of ballasts in order to
guide the users hand towards the target. Sean acknowledged that
innovations such as these had somewhat reduced the average United
World citizens' capacity to adapt to the loss of such technology
after the wars.
I looked at
the menu options and tried to find out what the problem was with
the device. But the device reported no issues. Instead it offered
to explain the reason for the targeting scenario. I confirmed.
Within a moment it zoomed straight into the problem, and the
problem was a horde. There was a mass of them seething forwards. At
this distance it was almost impossible to hear them, but the new
resolution of the lancer allowed me some clarity of sight. It was
beyond anything I could imagine, so many shapes were writhing about
the image from my scope that I could scarcely make out any
individual in the seething mass.
Gradually,
ever so gradually, I noticed something very important. This mass of
bodies was not moving in a poorly arranged confusion, they were
moving with a purpose, they were moving towards us. We must have
been making more sound than I thought. For a moment I was
dumbfounded. Then I screamed, ‘Aeniah, they're coming.’ She looked
towards me in confusion. Slowly I saw the white light of her eyes
flick upwards through the green haze and consulted with to Sean. In
a moment her face changed from confusion to worry and from worry to
horror.
‘What should
we do?’ I screamed. Aeniah was beginning to rush forward in a
crouch.
‘Just fucking
shoot them. Put yourselves in automatic and start firing,’ she
shouted back loudly.
I looked down
the side of my lancer and flicked the toggle into auto. The gun
whined in response as it began to charge. The side light went green
indicating full readiness. I pulled the gun up in their general
direction and began to fire. The lancer selected its targets and
dispatched them with ease. Aeniah and the others began firing
equally indiscriminately. Sean appeared to dart forward at a
tremendous speed towards them. Soon he was away in the distance. I
looked back through the scope of my wildly firing lancer and
watched a small flame of energy drop from Sean. I stopped firing as
my scope went white. The whole tunnel shook with the force of the
explosion. I could just hear the humming of Sean as he whooshed his
way back towards us.
I looked back
through the scope at the fading white light and could see nothing.
Then I saw the damage. There was a pile of strewn bodies lying
across the surface of the tunnel. But climbing over those bodies
was the rest of the horde. Aeniah must have seen it too because her
pistol began to let rip just a couple of moments after I began to
return fire. They were gaining on us.
With the
tunnel illuminated by the energy rounds that we were firing Abigail
and Harris appeared to have enough light to at least get a
direction of fire. They had let go of our waists and were firing
their projectiles in rapid succession at the unseen targets. Both
of their torches switched on. The view along the tunnel was not
great, but if I was honest, neither was the night vision. The
lancer had obviously seen better days.
‘Are we
getting enough of them,’ asked Harris.
‘No, we're not
even making a dent in them,’ Aeniah responded in a scream.
We continued
firing nevertheless. Sean's little explosive trick had seemed to be
a one off. He was no longer participating in the fight but seemed
to be working instead as Aeniah's eyes. They were communicating
with each other. Or more accurately Aeniah was shouting whilst Sean
deferentially complied with some nondescript answer.
The horde
continued its inevitable surge towards us. It was like trying to
stop the tide. A battle we could never hope to win. My lancer's
overheat warning began to sound and a flame symbol appeared in the
scope screen. I continued firing, ten down, now twenty. But nothing
was enough. They were close enough now for Abigail and Harris to
see by flashlight alone. But even with this improved accuracy there
was not enough fire power. I wished that my angel was with me, that
I could draw upon its incredible power and use it to get rid of all
of these murderous villains.
But I wished
in vain. It seemed like Blue Dawn was right, they would only ever
come if they really wanted to. I searched about us for something,
anything that would get us out of this mess. My eyes scanned the
tunnel, there was nothing, the flashlights revealed too little. I
raised my lancer in desperation. Through the scope I could make out
something. I let rip with the automatic and ran towards the left
hand side of the tunnel. I moved with lightning speed but still it
seemed too slow. They were so close now.
I reached the
side and fumbled with the round wall. My hands soon found a
purchase. Scrabbling with my fingers I found a handle. Thank fate.
It was a door, probably a service entrance. It was amazing the
amount of convenient things that could be found on Ascension. There
were methods of escape everywhere.
‘Follow me,’ I
screamed at my companions. At first they did nothing, transfixed by
the incoming horde. It was only as Abigail and Harris's flashlights
illuminated the door that they ran with relief to its opening. I
forced my way through the narrow opening first. The others
scrambled in one after the other. Aeniah was last and she slammed
the door shut with a frightening strength. We were all gasping for
air, sure that all the oxygen in the world was running out.
‘This won't
hold them for long,’ Aeniah shouted. Sure enough there was a
tremendous bang upon the door. The force of so many infected
slamming at the door caused it to rattle on its hinges. We turned
about the service tunnel and ran in the direction of the Commercial
District. We ran with all our speed. There were some small lights
that ran along the length of the service tunnel. These gave just
enough light to run by and we seized the opportunity with both
hands. We desperately grabbed at our one hope of salvation and ran
blindly onward, anywhere, everywhere.
Something
grabbed at my shoulder. I fell to the ground, not for the first
time in the last twenty minutes, and heard automatic rifle fire.
Unlike in my previous fall I managed to climb to my feet swiftly
and found that the offending article had been pulverised. Perhaps
she had once been a rail technician. She was dressed in a high
visibility jacket. She looked strangely peaceful where she lay,
without a torso. I didn't even bother to look around me, to find
out what was going on. Instead I was possessed by a fear that drove
me forwards, unseeing.
We were
reaching the end of the service tunnel now. A sealed archway
presented itself directly in front of us. Aeniah hammered at it,
but the wall sealing the archway off was too firm.
‘Okay, so does
anyone have any explosives,’ she called.
In the corner
of my eye I spotted a familiar red symbol. With my right hand
outstretched I pressed my palm against it. The symbol flashed,
rotated, and turned green. A door to the left of the archway slid
open. Aeniah did not seem very amused by the door upstaging her and
she punched its metal frame on her way through. The door sealed
itself behind us, preventing the horde from pursuing us further.
There must have been thousands of them.
We had arrived
at a station right at the opening of the Commercial District. This
station was different from the others. The first difference was
that it had no roof, no tall columns supporting it up. Instead it
reached up into the never ending distance. We were in amongst the
clouds. We were in the bloody sky.
I looked up
and up and up. I gasped with incredulity. There was a sky. The
station really was suspended in the air. It was blue, as blue as is
the ocean. It was a lit by a series of white stars. They were held
aloft in a straight line across this wonderful blue sea of air.
Despite myself I laughed with the sheer pleasure of seeing it. The
Commercial District, according to the maps of Ascension, covered a
huge circular chunk of the station. It was two hundred Ascension
sized floors high and spanned a distance calculated in the tens of
miles.
Reaching like
the fingers of God into the heavens of this blue ocean were
skyscrapers of an immense proportion. They were concentrated in the
far off and mist shrouded centre of the district. Each was a work
of sheer brilliance. Some reached upwards in an impossible curve
narrowing to a seemingly infinite point. Others arched from several
points and met high above the heavens, some supporting other
massive structures in their lofty heights. There were towers made
of pure light, they shone with an ethereal glow, tinged with an
electric blue. Most impressive were the garden structures. They
were artificial towers that looped and curved and plateaued.
Surrounding them was a twisting mass of plant life that became
forests and lakes on each of their many plateaus. Many of the
flatlands dripped water from them, which turned to a mist that
reflected patterns of coloured light onto the surrounding
buildings.