Gene. Sys. (25 page)

At the opposite end of the hangar I see a fairly
large group of scientists and drones protecting a door. Most of the scientists
seem out of place holding guns. Among them is Dr.
Cicca
.
I’m happy to see she is on our side.

I realize that we only have a few more moments
before the attackers replenish their numbers. This is where my training needs
to pay off. I look next to me and see the two metal doors that were blown off.
I shoot one of them with my gun and the bullet doesn’t penetrate.

“Ev, Hydro and Al. Grab the doors and wedge them
together in a ‘V’,” I order and they do as they are told. “Titan. You, Sodi,
Cal and I will provide cover fire as we move to the opposite and of the hangar.
Ox and K, you stay in the middle and get Sil and Mag to the other side.”

We all get into position. Ev, Hydro and Al raise
the doors and hold them up to protect our bodies from the front. Titan and Sodi
walk next to the doors to cover any attackers from the front of side, while Cal
and I cover the back.

I look back down the hallway one last time,
wishing to see Fe, but all I see are bodies on the ground. I can only hope that
she has already made it to the
Flyz
.

“Who are we?” I shout as I turn my attention
back to the hangar.

“Genesys!” they all shout in unison.

We move quickly into the hangar and are immediately
met by gunfire. The bullets ricochet of the metal doors, giving us the
protection I had anticipated. Titan and Sodi open fire; soon after Cal and I
fire our guns at the outsiders, scientists and drones that run up behind us.

“They’re coming!” I hear Dr.
Cicca
yell from the other side of the hangar.

I turn my head briefly to see a large group of
drones peel off from protecting the door to come and protect us. When we reach
the middle of the hangar, the drones have completely surrounded us and help us
reach the other end.

The few scientists and drones directly in front
of the door peel away to let us through. Al, Hydro and Ev drop the doors and
run through. K leading Sil and Ox carrying Mag follow them through. As Titan
and Sodi stop their cover fire to go through, I see a large wave of attackers
run down the ramp. Leading them down is 13 and the outsider
Petros
,
that nearly killed me when I ran to the pyramid with 80.

Cal and I help the scientists and drones with
suppressing fire. A hand falls on my shoulder that startles me and when I look
back I see Dr.
Cicca
. She has sweat running down her
face, but I don’t see any fear.

“Get through the doors!” she yells at me.

“Atom!” Cal shouts from behind me.

I turn just as he pushes me out of the way and a
bullet hits him in the stomach. He falls limp to the ground in front of me.

“Cal!” I scream. I look in the direction of
where the shot came from and see 13 kneeling with a sniper rifle. He’s
resetting his aim at me but before he can shoot again, a group of scientists
and drones get in his way.

I stand and grab Cal by his arms. As I pull him
through the door, he leaves a trail of blood on the ground. The door shuts once
we are completely through.

“Somebody help!” I yell. I put Cal’s arms down
and check his vitals. “He’s not breathing and I can’t feel a pulse!”

Hydro, Al and Ev have all arrived at my side.

“Wake up, Cal!” Al grabs Cal’s arm.

“Get him in one of the
Flyz
,”
I hear Rene shout from behind me.

I turn to look and already see Mag and Ox in
theirs. Titan and Sodi are climbing into theirs.

“Help me carry him,” I tell Al.

We pick him up and carry him to the Fly where K
is waiting.

“The rest of you get into your
Flyz
!” Rene shouts.

I look and see Hawk helping Sil into his Fly.
I’m surprised to see him. I could have sworn he would be on the other side. Al
and Hydro run to their Fly, just as the ceiling above us begins to open and the
Fly carrying Ox and Mag takes off.

I run with Ev to ours as two more
Flyz
take off. Rene stands waiting outside our Fly. There
is a pilot that I don’t recognize.

“Where is Fe?” I ask Rene as Ev climbs in.

“She hasn’t come,” he says bluntly.

I turn back towards the door and see that all of
the
Flyz
with the exception of mine and Fe’s have
taken off.

“We have to go, Atom!” Ev yells from inside.

I look back at Ev and Rene grabs my arm. He
looks me in the eye. “Don’t.”

I pull my arm away from him, reach into the Fly
and pull Ev out. With all my strength I carry her to Fe’s Fly, where Sil and
Hawk sit, waiting.

“Put me down!” Ev kicks. “What are you doing?”

I put her in
Sil’s
Fly, right next to Sil. I grab his hand and put it on her arm. “Sil, don’t let
her off. Go Hawk!”

“Atom!” Ev screams, tears running down her face.
“It’s supposed to be you and me!”

Hawk lifts the Fly into the air, pulling Ev away
from me. She needs to be safe. She needs to be away from here. I look at her,
tears in my own eyes. “I’m sorry!”

The last look I see on
her face is worse than pain
,
it’s betrayal
. The
Fly leaves the compound.

19

“We have to go, Atom!” Rene yells at me.

I look back at him as I run back to the doors
leading to the rollpods hangar. “I have to find Fe!”

I pull the doors open and run out before he can
say anything else. When I get out I see that the scientists and drones on our
side have regained control of the hangar, mostly because the majority of the
outsiders and the other attackers have retreated back outside. I’m guessing
it’s due to the fact that the
Flyz
have already taken
off.
 

“What are you doing?” A hand grabs me. I turn to
see Dr.
Cicca
standing before me.

“Fe is missing. I’m not leaving without her!” I
pull away from her and run to the opposite side of the hangar. A few shots fly
by me, but none close enough to stop my momentum.

I reach the hallway that leads to the weapons
cache and I stop right at the corner. I can hear a couple of voices. When I
peek around, I see a couple of outsiders and a Mutineer. Carefully, I steady my
rifle and shoot each one before they have time to react.

After waiting a couple of seconds to make sure
that no one else comes out of the weapons cache, I run down the hallway.

“Fe!” I yell as I turn the corner. I continue to
yell her name as I run down the hallways.

I get to the hallway with the surveillance room
and am met by gunfire. The bullets hit the wall to my right and I back up
around the corner. I aim my gun down the hallway and see a barrel of a rifle
poking out of the surveillance room.

“Atom!” the voice in the surveillance room calls
out.

“Who’s there?” I yell back.

“It’s 80. I’m stepping out,” 80 shouts as he
steps out.

“Are you alone?” I call back.

“Yes,” he says, placing his rifle on the ground
and holding his hands up.

I walk down the hall with my gun pointed right
at his head. “If you move, I’ll shoot.”

“Got it,” he says.

So many questions run through my head, anger is
behind every one of them. I step closer to him. “Why? Why did you do this?”

He takes a deep breath. “You taught me what it
was like to live. You taught me the value of life, and I didn’t want to lose
it. I told every drone I could what I had learned and one by one we came to
realize how wrong this extermination by the scientists is. It’s not their place
to decide the fate of others.”

My mind spins in circles. I’m to blame for this
betrayal. I planted the seeds and now I have to reap what I sowed. The anger I
have towards 80 right now should be equally directed at myself. The worst part
is that he is right. It’s just too late.

I reach him and in an instant my right fist
connects with his jaw. He stumbles against the wall.

“I guess I deserve that.” He wipes the blood
from his lip.

“I was your friend!” I yell in his face.

“And you were going to let me die!” He pushes me
back. A
new found
fire in his eyes.

His words make me sick. I was going to let him
die. He and others I cared about. How could I be so selfish? I step back up to
him. “I didn’t have a choice!”

“Well you do now,” he pleads. “End this.”

“It’s too late,” I respond. “There’s nothing I
can do. Rene already started the sequence and it can’t be stopped.”

80
lowers
his head. Tears
run down his face and the fear behind them make him more human than I have ever
seen. It’s a far cry from the drone that expected to be shot right away after
taking a bullet for me.

“Have you seen Fe?” I ask. I wish I could
comfort him, but that is not my objective, and I don’t have time.

He looks up at me with some clarity in his eyes.
He obviously knows something. “She’s in the city.”

I push him against the wall. “What did you do with
her?”

“I didn’t do anything!” He brushes me back. “She
was wandering around the city last night and a few outsiders took her captive.
They are holding her in one of the buildings by the pyramid.”

I grab him and look directly into his eye. “If
she’s hurt…”

“I had nothing to do with it!” he asserts.

I push him to the ground and run back down the
hallway.

“What are you doing?” he yells after me.

“I have to find her!” I keep running.

“You’ll get killed!” I hear him say as I turn
the corner.

I run past the weapons cache and into the
hangar. There is a small battle between the two sides on the ramp, but I know I
have to go up there and get outside. I have to get to the city.

“Atom!” Dr.
Cicca
yells at me. She runs over.

“Fe is in the city. I have to get up there.” I
look at her. “You aren’t going to change my mind.”

“I’m coming with you,” she states.

I don’t object. I might need the extra
fire power
. I motion towards the battle on the ramp. “How do
we get through there?”

“Follow me.” She runs to the door that leads to
the
Flyz
hangar. Right next to the door are three
rollpods. “We use these.”

“Do you know how to drive them?” I ask.

“About as much as you do.” She smiles.

Her smile is refreshing amidst the chaos; I
can’t help but smile back. I climb into one of the rollpods. “I guess we’ll
figure it out.”

She climbs into the rollpod next to mine. I look
down at the controls and see they are fairly basic, two handles with triggers
attached to them. I look for a button or something to start the rollpod but
don’t see anything. Suddenly, Dr.
Cicca’s
rollpod
moves forward.

“Push the handles forward,” she tells me.

I do as she says and my rollpod rolls ahead.
When I turn the handles to the left, the rollpod rotates left and then I move
in that direction. Soon after, we are both rolling towards the ramp. I pull on
the triggers as we reach the battle and the guns fire, clearing a path ahead of
us.

We roll through the hole at the top of the ramp
and come out on the field. A larger battle is being fought out here and the
attackers seem to be having more success against those defending the compound.
A steady stream of outsiders and drones continues to run into the compound. It
will only be a matter of time before the
outsiders,
drones and Mutineers have seized control of the compound.

We blast our way through the battle fairly
easily as it seems as though the attackers are less concerned over anyone
leaving the compound. They don’t realize that it’s too late. That even when
they do gain control of the compound, they can’t reverse what Rene has already
set in motion. They are fighting for nothing.

Once past the chaos around the compound, the
amount of activity we encounter is barely noteworthy, an outsider or two who take
a few shots at the rollpods, but we dispose of those threats with ease.

Dr.
Cicca
rolls up
next to me. “How far do we have to go?”

“All the way to the pyramid,” I answer, pushing
forward.

We roll past a dozen more blocks, the pyramid
growing bigger before us, until we reach a pile of debris that we can’t go over
or around. We dismount our rollpods and head up the pile of debris. When we get
to the top we crouch down to assess what is before us.

There are a few outsiders and drones patrolling
the streets. This seems to be the center of their operation.

“Any ideas?” Dr.
Cicca
asks me.

I look around and see some metal steps on the
side of our nearest building. They lead to a balcony about thirty feet up. I
could then jump from balcony to balcony and stay above the activity and
unnoticed. Dr.
Cicca
, however, would not be able to
make those jumps.

“I’m thinking,” I say.

“Atom?” a soft voice calls out behind me. I turn
and see Brianna standing next to the rollpods.

“Brianna?” Dr.
Cicca
turns. “What are you doing out here?”

“Janice! You’re alive!” Brianna smiles. “When
the attacks started I got scared and I ran away from the compound. I’ve been
hiding out here.”

Dr.
Cicca
and I slide
down the debris pile. I check around and look at Brianna. “Have you seen Fe?
She’s being held out here.”

Dr.
Cicca
runs over to
Brianna and gives her a hug. Brianna returns the hug and instantly spins Dr.
Cicca
around and holds a knife to her throat.

“What are you doing?” Dr.
Cicca
screams.

“Let her go!” I shout, raising my gun.

“Put it down, Atom.” Brianna brings the knife
closer to Dr.
Cicca’s
neck.

I can tell that she isn’t bluffing, so I lower
my gun. “Why are you doing this?”

“To survive,” she responds. “That’s why I
started the Mutineers. We needed to stop Rene’s plans.

“It’s too late,” I say.

“Maybe to stop it, but it’s not too late to ruin
it.” She smiles. Dr.
Cicca’s
eyes grow wide with
shock. Blood starts to trickle from her neck.

“Where is Fe
?!
” I
demand.

Brianna looks right at me. “I know where Fe is.
I took her there, but you won’t find her”

I slowly bend towards my gun. “If anything has
happened to her…”

Brianna’s eyes grow fierce. She pulls Dr.
Cicca
in closer. “Sorry Janice.”

“No! Don’t!” I scream.

In one quick motion, Brianna slits Dr.
Cicca’s
throat and takes hold of the rifle that Dr.
Cicca
was carrying. Dr.
Cicca
falls to the ground and Brianna shoots at me.

I jump to the side, avoiding all the bullets. I
continue running, just barely in front of the stream of bullets. When I get to
one of the rollpods, I kick off the front with a back flip. While in the air, I
unwind the chain from my body.

The second I land; I spin and whip the chain at
Brianna. It connects hard with the side of her head and she screams as she
falls to the ground. The impact has caused her to drop the rifle. I use the
opportunity to run at her and wrap the chain around her neck.

I pull hard and bring her to her feet. She gasps
for air and, when I raise her off the ground, she gurgles and kicks.

“Where is Fe?” I demand.

I set Brianna down to give her a moment of
reprieve. When she doesn’t answer, I lift her off the ground again. She
struggles to breathe once more.

“If you want to live, you tell me where she is!”
I shout.

This time when I set her down she speaks and
points to the last building on the right. It’s right before the pyramid. “She’s
in there.”

I loosen up the chain and she falls to the
ground, grasping for all the oxygen around her. I walk over to pick up the two guns,
and as I pick up the second, I hear Brianna scream. When I turn I see her
charging at me with the knife she used to kill Dr.
Cicca
.
I forgot she had it.

I set the guns on the ground, plant hard with my
feet, and just before she reaches me I jump and spin in the air. As I fly above
her, I twist the chain around her neck. I use the momentum as I fall to the
ground to fling her over my head and at one of the rollpods. Brianna flies
through the air and her head connects with the side of the rollpod. The crack
of her neck as it breaks against the rollpod nearly causes me to throw up.

I wrap the chain around me and then I pick up
one of the rifles and fling it over my shoulder. Now that I have to finish this
on my own, I can jump from balcony to balcony. I look over at Dr.
Cicca
,
a
pool of blood surrounds her. It is not lost on me, the sheer number of people
who have sacrificed themselves to ensure our success. I am resolved to make
sure that I don’t fail them.

I run up the right side of the debris pile and
when I get to the top, I jump and grab hold of the metal steps. A couple of
moments later I am standing in the balcony, thirty feet up. As I look down at
the ten or so balconies that I need to progress down, I see that most are in
worse shape than the one I am standing on right now.

The first couple of leaps from one balcony to
the next are actually pretty easy. It isn’t until I reach the gap between
buildings that the space between them seems further than I can jump. I take a
deep breath, back up, and then run as hard as I can down the length of my
current balcony and jump off the ledge.

I land hard against the side of the balcony on
the new building. My feet dangle off the edge, but I have enough of a grip to
pull myself up. Still, my heart stops and then kicks into high gear at the
prospect of falling. I make it to the last balcony of this building without
incident. The outsiders and drones roaming the streets beneath haven’t noticed
me and my target building is three away.