The Red Phoenix 12: Strength Comes in Numbers (40 page)

“I’m glad I did what I did,” said Chris in a soft tone.

“So am I,” Kerry answered, putting her head on his chest.  “And so are they.”

Chris looked up at his platoon of Kirk clones that were staring at the two of them, smiling.

“We’re a family,” said Chris. “You all understand that, right? No one tears us apart.”

“Of course we do, Father,” Kirk One answered.

Chris nodded, pleased. He leaned his head back against the wall of the train and dozed off, closing his eyes to the gentle rocking of the cabin. The physical, mental and emotional fatigue had finally caught up with him, taking its toll.

He drifted into a dream of him and Kerry flying in an airplane, sitting in coach, holding hands while Kirk, a small boy, sat at the window seat, playing with an action figure. Kirk made playful sounds, imagining his toys at war with each other.

“Hey Dad?” asked Kirk.

“Yeah, bud,” Chris answered.

“After we land, I’m going to kill all the mutated people myself,” said Kirk.

“What was that, little buddy?” asked Chris, shocked.

“I’m going to kill all the mutated creatures myself, along with Dr. Siddoway!” Kirk replied in a hateful voice.

Kirk’s words caused Chris to fear.

Suddenly, the plane jolted from turbulence.

“Whoa!” Chris said.

“Everyone! Buckle your seat belts!” urged a flight attendant, rushing down the aisle.

“Hey, hey. What’s the problem? What’s going on?” Chris asked the flight attendant.

“Just relax, sir, we’re crashing,” she answered with a smile. “It’s perfectly normal.”

“Crashing? What? Into what? Where?” asked Chris, frightened.

“Into the Red Phoenix!” she responded in a demonic voice.

Chris awakened from his nightmare, his heart racing, breathing heavily.

“Chris? Wake up. You need to wake up!” said Kirk One.

“What is it? What’s going on?” asked Kerry, sitting up.

“It’s the train. It’s going very fast,” said Kirk One, “like it’s out of control.”

“What?” asked Chris, standing.

“It just picked up speed a minute ago,” said Kirk Ten, holding a metal pole.

Chris watched the concrete walls of the tunnel speed by with the sound of wind coming through the shattered windows.

“Has anyone checked the control box at the front?” he asked, hurrying down the aisle.

“The box of breakers appears to be damaged,” Kirk Four replied.

“It’s completely dysfunctional,” Kirk Eight added.

Chris opened the box. Tiny sparks and electrical arcs popped as it smoked.

“Terrific,” said Chris, slamming the box door closed, looking out the windshield as the subway sped past the platform for level minus sixty-nine without slowing down.

“What do you think we should we do, Chris?” asked Kirk Ten.

“I don’t know but the good news is we’re going to be at level minus eighty within minutes,” Chris answered.

Suddenly, something hit the top of the train. Chris and the clones looked to the ceiling.

“What was that?” asked Chris.

Another sound of something heavier struck the roof of the train, causing the ceiling lights to flicker.

“Damn!” said Chris.

“There it is again,” said Kirk One.

Something pounded on top of the train until it sounded like it was raining heavy objects on the roof, causing the train to shake like there was an earthquake. They staggered, struggling to keep their balance.

“Everyone, wait here!” Chris hollered as he ran down the aisle towards the rear of the cabin.

“Chris!” Kerry cried as the train lights turned off, the subway shaking again like the tracks were crumbling beneath.

“Stay here! I’ll be right back!” he said, running to the train-cars at the rear as the subway zoomed past the platform level minus seventy-five. He looked out the rear windows, watching enormous-sized chunks of concrete fall onto the tracks as the subway tunnel caved in, making thunderous crushing noises.

“Oh my God,” he mumbled in disbelief. “The whole damn place is falling apart!”

Chris hurried back to the lead train-car. There was a tumultuous thud heard on the roof as the subway jerked, causing Chris to be thrown against the wall of the train, smacking his head against a metal pole, landing face-down on the aisle.

He stood up, watching the train depot of level minus seventy-eight be toppled upon with layers of cement and rubble as the roof and walls caved in, burying the entire platform.

The
Express
train raced on, escaping the cave-in, a rainstorm of pieces of concrete, weighing tons. Chris rushed back to the lead car, hanging on to the overhead metal support rod for balance.

“The under levels are beginning to collapse!” said Chris in a loud voice.

“What can we do to slow the train down?” asked Kirk Five.

“Or, better yet, stop it?” Kirk Seven asked.

“We can’t,” Chris responded.

Suddenly, the subway jolted, forcing everyone to fall to the floor.

The subway’s undercarriage came out of the tracks, causing the heavy iron and steel parts of the subway’s base to grind against the track railings, sending up sparks.

The subway went around another bend. The platform of level minus eighty came into view.

“Chris! The train isn’t slowing down!” Kerry cried.

Part of the ceiling collapsed onto the tracks in front of the Express.

“Whoa! Everyone, hang on!” Chris said, diving to the floor, gripping the base of a metal pole.

The front of the
Express
collided head-on into the pile of asphalt, concrete and rubble, causing the front of the subway to crush inwards and the windshield to shatter. The train’s first and second cars buckled, forcing the third and fourth cars to topple onto the platform, scraping over the floor, ripping the tiles up and demolishing the brick posts that stood along the edge of the train station until the tipped-over subway came to a stop.

The ceiling began to cave in on top of the wrecked train. The pieces of concrete became larger as the seconds went on.

“Everyone out!” hollered Chris, climbing out the shattered windshield.

The last clone climbed out of the windshield then onto the platform just as a chunk of concrete the size of a pickup truck dropped from above and landed on the front of the
Express
, crushing it like a tin can.

Chris stood, catching his breath, wiping his dirty face. His clones stood behind him as they gazed at the wrecked subway train crash they barely survived.

“I guess it was meant for us to never leave this place,” said Chris, sounding down.

Kerry leaned against a brick post.

“Any other ideas for getting out of here?” asked Kirk Three.

“Yeah, we wait for this place to crumble on top of us and our souls go up to—”

The clones looked at Chris, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

“Never mind,” he said.

“There has got to be another way out, Chris,” said Kerry.

“How many of you lost your rifles on the train?” asked Chris.

A few of the clones raised their hands.

“Okay, listen up. We’re going to the sewer sector,” said Chris. “If anything happens down there, use your side arms. If you go empty, get close to your brother that is better than armed than you. Clear?”

“Yes sir,” the clones mumbled in unison.

“Let’s get out of this hell hole,” said Chris, leading them into the main corridor of level minus eighty.

***

Braddock and his soldiers reached the bottom of the stairwell. He opened the door, scanning the room as Osborne and the others scattered throughout the wide corridor on level minus eighty.

“Coast is clear, Commander,” said Osborne.

“The arsenal is at the southeast wing on this level,” Braddock stated, checking his digital device.

In the rear of the group, Twelve leaned over to Siddoway as they followed Braddock’s battalion.

“Mr. Siddoway?” Twelve whispered.

“What is it?”

“These soldiers are almost finished completing their objective,” Twelve replied.

“What about it?” asked Siddoway.

“I fear our true identities are going to be made known,” said Twelve.

“I know; trust me, it’s been on my mind ever since we put on these gas masks and tactical gear,” Siddoway responded.

“What is stopping us from eliminating the rest of them and making our escape?” asked Twelve.

“Stand fast, Mr. Twelve,” Siddoway answered. “We’re still at the bottom of this massive facility. We have no idea how difficult it may be to leave this place.”

“I thought you reached the surface?” asked Twelve.

“I did but the elevator systems are in the shambles, now,” Siddoway answered.

“Could you find your way back?” asked Twelve.

“I’m not sure,” Siddoway answered. “I barely escaped the creatures upstairs before I returned to level minus twenty-nine.”

“I understand. Strength comes in numbers,” stated Twelve.

“Precisely,” Siddoway responded. “We’ll follow these clowns as long as we can then make our move at the right time.”

The soldiers continued on down the corridor.

***

Chris and the clones reached the sewage system entrance. The double-set of doors opened to a winding staircase that led downwards.

“Lights on,” said Chris, turning on the light attached to his weapon. “Remember, we don’t know who or what is down there,” he added, leading them down the staircase.

They landed in an eerie, dimly lit, circular-tunnel passage that went both directions with two-feet of murky sewer water at the bottom.

“Which way, Chris?” asked Kerry as they plunged into the disgusting shallow stream.

“C’mon, we’ll head this way,” he answered.

“Any idea how far the exit is, Chris?” asked Kirk One.

“Not a clue,” he replied.

A short distance behind Chris and the others, something with a serpent-like body swam towards them, causing gentle ripples in the water.