The Bloodless Read online

“Nah, but you wouldn’t be fightin’ if you didn’t have nothin’ to fight for. Why you even out here if you got nothin’ you fightin’ for?”

  “What are YOU fighting for?”

  “My daughter,” Burns said simply.

  Saturn didn’t respond right away as the anger melted from her face. She didn’t expect an answer like that from a guy like Burns. At that moment, her exterior softened a bit as she felt a twinge of compassion for her companion. “Where is she?” she asked after a few moments of silence.

  “She’s with a nice family back in Jericho, safe, away from all this hell.” Burns’ face fell to a neutral expression, as if the memory of his sister took away some of his unrelenting positivity. The energy between the two shifted slightly to something more serious.

  “How old is she?”

  “Seven,” a small grin formed on Burns’ face. “So she’s old enough to take care of herself, according to her anyway,” he chuckled. “She wanted to come with me but obviously I wasn’t ‘bout to let her, ain’t no way my baby comin’ out in this shit. We had a huge fight before I left and she was really mad at me, but I think she got over it by now.” He didn’t look convinced by his own words.

  “Hey,” Saturn said placing a hand on his elbow, “I’m sure she was just scared. I’m sure she misses you. If there’s one thing I know in this world, it’s that your family will always love you no matter what.”

  “Yeah, that’s true,” Burns said. It was odd to hear someone as ostensibly tough as Saturn to be talking so tenderly. It was a nice change, though it was exactly what he was trying to get out of her; an emotion he hadn’t seen her express before. They were quiet for a long time as they traveled, both thinking of their respective families.

  “I lost my family,” Saturn broke the silence.

  “Sorry to hear,” Burns said. “What happened?”

  “The Bloodless.”

  Burns nodded his head empathetically.

  “I don’t know,” Saturn whined, “I guess I am fighting for somethin’, but it just sounds so damn generic to say I’m fighting to avenge my family. I want what we’re doin’ to mean somethin’.”

  “It does mean somethin’,” Burns said. “We the only ones tryin to do somethin’ about this mess. We gonna be the ones who return the world to normal.”

  “Please, we aren’t the only ones tryin’ to do somethin’ about the Bloodless,” Saturn scoffed, “I don’t believe that for one second. I mean...”

  Burns stopped abruptly and Saturn instantly fell silent. A look of great alarm and concentration stole over Burns’ face, fear and the stale fall air extracting sweat droplets from his brow. Saturn looked confused but not for long as a guttural yell came from off in the distance. Unfortunately for them, Burns and Saturn were still on the main street, out in the open. There were no buildings along this stretch of the highway but it did wind its way through a moderately wooded forest.

  It was an oddity that stood out as the forest was imported to the give the landscape around Abiyah and accompanying towns some semblance of vegetative life. Most of the people in the area had moved from the Midwest and were accustomed to seeing trees. They had grown tired of constantly seeing dirt and rocks everywhere and decided they would pool their resources to bring the Midwest out to them. The forest was completely artificial, however, as that was the only way it would survive in the desert.

  Burns and Saturn ducked down and quickly darted across the tree line, providing themselves with minimal cover, just enough to hide them. Burns looked around, listening for any more sounds. Saturn slowly removed her rifle from her back and started piecing it together with parts from the satchel that was anchored to her hip. Burns motioned for her to stop but she simply mouthed, “Fuck that,” and kept assembling her weapon. After locking her scope on she popped a clip in and switched off the safety. Burns motioned for her to do a sweep towards the East and that he’d do one towards the West.

  After completing their sweeps they got real close to each other and started to whisper. “This ain’t fuckin’ good,” Burns said in a nearly inaudible voice.

  “You think it’s Bloodless,” Saturn whispered back.

  “Gotta be, ain’t nothin’ else in these parts. Daniel never said nothin’ ‘bout there being patrols all the way out here.”

  “It’s not like we’re very far from the compound’s outer perimeter,” Saturn said as she craned her head around to try and spot something. The air was thick with tension and their combined heavy breathing caused condensation to form on Saturn’s sunglasses. She slid them up and rested them on the top of her head. Burns stared at her. “What,” she said annoyed.

  “Nothin’, you jus’ got really pretty eyes is all,” Burns responded.

  “Now’s not the time for that,” she said, smiling in spite of herself. “Do we split up?”

  “Naw, that’d be suicide, we gonna have to work together on this one. Here’s what we do,” and Burns whispered even quieter into Saturn’s ear. She nodded her head in apparent agreement and the two set off deeper into the woods.

  It was a common forest made up of mostly deciduous trees. Maple, oak, and other similar trees stood tall over them, but not very thick. The undergrowth was thick but this proved to be loud and a hindrance on their movement. They had to slow way down and move much more deliberately. After a short amount of time they came to a sort of clearing that gave way to a section of pine trees.

  “I think they’re just on the other side of these trees,” Burns said sidling up to one of the massive, needled pines.

  Saturn simply nodded her response. She didn’t like being this close to the action and her eyes betrayed that fact, fear peeking out from behind her pupils. She is much more comfortable at a far, safe distance, picking off enemies one at a time, two if they lined up for her. Her heart raced as if trying to alert her to the imminent danger she was already well aware of. Burns, on the other hand, looked calm and collected, master of his emotions. He had always been very capable of keeping himself even keel in stressful situations; it’s what has helped him survive all this time.

  Suddenly Burns looked very confused. “What?” asked Saturn, noticing his face.

  “It just got really quiet,” Burns said. Indeed the air had suddenly become eerily still, the same kind of unnerving calm a trailer park may experience before a massive tornado rips through it. Then it was as if the Earth inhaled deeply all around them and the exhale came in the form of shouting and many bodies erupting from behind the pine trees. Guns were drawn, hammers locked, and multiple guns pointing straight into the faces of Burns and Saturn.

  “Who are you,” a voice bellowed out from the chaos. “Answer me!”

  “I ain’t tellin’ you shit! Who the fuck are you,” Burns retorted, much to the horror of Saturn who was visibly terrified, shaking, tears forming in her eyes.

  A man emerged from the crowd and stood right in front of Burns. “Answer me or I’ll fertilize these trees with your brains,” he snarled holding a gun up and jabbing the barrel in Burns’ face, right between his eyes.

  “Fuck you, Bloodless scum!”

  The man in front of Burns looked taken aback by being addressed so harshly. He was a rough looking man, many scars on his face, and a hardened pair of apple green eyes. He was short and stocky and wore what appeared to be a poorly home-made camouflage jumpsuit. “Lower your guns,” he commanded the men around him and at once they obeyed. Great waves of relief washed over Saturn.

  It was short lived however as the man then put his gun up to Saturn’s head. “I’m gonna ask you one more time,” he said threateningly, placing a finger on the trigger.

  “If you harm one hair on her head, I’ll tear your Bloodless ass limb from limb,” Burns snarled.

  “I am not a Bloodless,” the man shouted. This was usually a dead giveaway as the term “Bloodless” was used only among normal people as it was not known to the enemy, as far as they knew.

  “If you ain’t a Bloodless then get that fuckin’ gu
n out her face,” Burns said.

  The man obliged. “There,” he said holstering his pistol and motioning for his men to do the same. “Now, who are you two and what are you doing in this place?”

  “My name’s Burns and this here is Saturn, we were just passing through here on our way to Wilsonville. Who are you?”

  “Name’s Brantley and these are soldiers of the United States Marine Corps, Surviving Battalion 1155,” he motioned the men now grouped together and staring at Burns and Saturn. “What business do you have in Wilsonville?” Brantley asked.

  “Our own,” Burns said simply.

  “The armory is dry,” Brantley said, “we just came from there, it’s been raided.”

  Burns and Saturn’s spirits fell simultaneously, though they weren’t aware of it, it was evident in their eyes. Saturn recovered first, “It just so happens, we have other business in Wilsonville. We do appreciate the info though, so thank you.”

  “Didn’t expect to see anybody else around these parts,” Brantley said eyeing Saturn.

  Burns chuckled, “You ain’t the only one. We been doing this for a while now and this is the first time I’ve seen normal humans this close to the GoD facility.”

  “How long’ve you been out here?” Brantley asked.

  “’Bout six or seven months now,” Burns said looking at Saturn for verification.

  “Eight,” she responded.

  “Eight months,” Brantley said shocked.

  “It ain’t that long, but we are doin’ what we can.”

  “How long have you guys been out here?” Saturn asked.

  “Us? We just got out here,” Brantley said. “Sent on special assignment to scout the region and try and get any information on what the enemy is up to.”

  “Well,” Burns said hesitantly, “if you want, you can come to our HQ in a few days. Our group is gonna be meetin’ up then to exchange reports. Couldn’t hurt to have more guns on our side.” Burns gave Brantley the coordinates, “This’ll be where we at. I think for now, it had better jus’ be you. Leave the boys behind.”

  “Understood,” Brantley said. “Thank you for this, it’s a big help,” he added.

  “We in this together man, we have to help each other out,” Burns said. “Thanks again for the information. Be careful out there, it’s brutal.”

  “Same to you guys.”

  The two teams went their separate ways.

  After some distance was put between them, Burns put his communicator up to his mouth and pressed a few buttons, “Daniel, come back, got some news for you.”

  A couple seconds passed and Daniel’s voice came out of the communicator, “I’m here, what’s up Burns?”

  “Just had an interestin’ rendezvous.”

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, we fine. We ran into a group claimin’ to be part of the US Marine Corps.”

  “Really,” Daniel responded, sounding interested.

  “Yeah, they said the armory in Wilsonville is empty. Nothin’ left.”

  “Well that’s unfortunate. You still gonna go check it out?” Daniel asked.

  “Do you want us to?”

  “I think it’s still worth the trip. You never know what you could find, plus we can’t take some strange guy’s word at face value.”

  “Yeah, I was thinkin’ the same thing. I told him he should meet up with us when we all together again. Don’t worry though,” Burns said before Daniel could say anything, “I gave him coordinates to a large open area away from HQ in Abiyah so we can make sure he comes alone like I told him to.”

  “Good thinkin’ Burns, well done. I’ll share this information with Fox and see what he knows about it. We’ll see you two when you get back. Out.”

  “Out.”

  “You gave him the wrong coordinates?” Saturn asked amused.

  “Of course,” Burns said. “We need all the help we can get, but I ain’t stupid. People are people, I don’t trust ones I don’t know. Never have, never will.”

  The rest of the journey took quite some time but went by without any more encounters. The distance between Abiyah and Wilsonville wasn’t tremendous but it was relatively significant. Especially if the distance had to be traversed on foot. The route was generally flat but there were enough hills to make the journey slightly more difficult than one would like it to be. The good thing about it was the scenery that was to be seen along the way.

  Expansive mountains loomed on the horizon, but were always just far enough that the duo wasn’t forced to scale them at any point in time. Autumn had just began so plants had yet to begin to wither, the ones that weren’t artificial that is. Despite the presence of the cloud, weather patterns seemed to be largely unaffected. Warm and cooler temperatures came and went as normal and even rain continued to fall, albeit with an unfortunate acidic property. It made life a bit strange in the region. While there was abundant plant and wildlife, all normal human life ceased to exist.

  Mother Nature had only recently started reclaiming her lands in the absence of men. It was mostly vines that wound their way up buildings and through windows. However, since upkeep had been universally halted within the 150 mile radius around GoD Laboratories’ land, roads saw their fair share of deterioration as they were cracked and forced apart by plants claiming their stake on the earth underneath. The buildings they came across on their path were faded and faltering due to a sudden lack of upkeep.

  Stray dogs and cats that were unlucky enough to be left behind by their fleeing owners infested nearly every town Burns and Saturn passed through. Most of them were friendly enough but there were some who had grown feral and extremely territorial. These were mostly dogs, as cats tended to flee in the presence of people. There were a few times when Burns and Saturn were forced to defend themselves against an attacking pack of hungry dogs protecting their territory.

  One the second day of their journey, as the time of day was nearing sunset, they came up to a sign that read:

  “Welcome to Wilsonville – You’re Going to Love it Here.”

  “Okay,” Burns said as he lifted his communicator up to eye level. He entered in a few commands and a three dimensional, to scale holographic map manifested above his arm. It flickered a few times then it was solid with a small red dot flashing on it. The dot was over a small inconspicuous building that appeared to be just northwest of their current location. “Looks like we’re headed that way,” Burns said, pointing in the general direction of the building.

  “Doesn’t look very big,” Saturn said looking over Burns’ shoulder at the hologram.

  “It’s probably an underground bunker,” Burns explained. “Best way to keep any armory, really. Easier to keep it outta harm’s way.”

  Wilsonville, just like every other town they encountered, was completely abandoned. It was a bit smaller with a quaint town square that was home to the primary commercial district. Small boutiques and a couple cafés were sprinkled here and there, one gas station stood on what appeared to be the main intersection of the town. It was the biggest road they had come across since their arrival; a whopping four lane road that looked like it had fallen into disrepair long before the Cloud.

  “It looks like there was a battle here,” Burns said as they stood in the middle of the intersection.

  “Hell yeah it does,” Saturn agreed. And indeed the buildings around them had scorch marks, chunks of outer walls blown away, and shattered windows that didn’t have vines already intruding in. Even more clues came in the form of discarded bullet casings, numerous pieces of explosive shrapnel, and blood stains all over the pavement. “This doesn’t look too recent,” Saturn said as she investigated a blood stain.

  “Still,” Burns said scanning the area, “seems kinda strange there ain’t bodies littered all about.”

  “Animals coulda got the bones. It’s not unheard of,” Saturn said standing up and wiping her hands off on her pants.

  “Naw, but ALL the bones? Not likely all the bones woulda been taken, es
pecially skulls and whatnot. Looks like someone cleaned this battle zone up, the dead anyway,” Burns added looking at all the used munitions.

  “Why would only the bodies get cleaned up?”

  “If I’ve learned anything over these past few months with Daniel, it’s that somebody is always hidin’ somethin’. Probably the same case here.”

  “Experiment you think?” Saturn asked.

  Burns nodded, “Definitely.”

  They finished their sweep and resumed their path towards the bunker being careful not to step on any of the undetonated road mines that were left over. After a few more minutes of walking the sun had finally dipped below the horizon allowing twilight to throw a blanket of impenetrable darkness over the town. It wasn’t long into the darkness before they at last arrived at the bunker. “These are the coordinates,” Saturn said examining the doorway that didn’t have a discernible handle on it. “Hopefully it’s the right place.”

  “Even if it is, how the fuck do we get in,” Burns said angrily as he searched for a door handle. After a few moments of not being able to figure it out, Burns pressed a hand against the door and leaned in. Right away the door responded to his touch and lit up. A series of blocks were drawn onto the door in a rectangular shape that had five rows of seven blocks. “What the fuck is this?”

  “Looks like they used a swipe code lock here,” Saturn said.

  “A swipe code? So you sayin’ there’s a swipe code that secures this door,” Burns said astounded. It certainly didn’t seem like the best way to keep people out of a potentially well stocked armory. But, then again...

  “I think we can figure it out,” Saturn said examining the door a bit closer.

  “I think you’re right,” Burns said. “Stand back.”

  “Wha-“

  But before she could say anything, Burns pulled her back and took a running start and slammed the bottom of his boot onto the door right where a doorknob usually would be. He kicked it very hard with a boom that echoed across the town. The door didn’t budge. He tried again but on the opposite side of the door. Again, nothing happened.