The Bloodless Read online

  Burns chuckled, “Yeah. My daughter. She was the only one I managed to save.”

  “Where is she?”

  “She stayin’ with a small commune we came across while wanderin’. Same place where I was recruited from. They some decent folks.”

  “Decent enough to trust them with your daughter. How old is she?”

  “She’s seven.” Another stretch of silence. “Man, you right, this is gettin’ boring.”

  *****

  We sat there, just beyond the rear entrance of the substation. Crist was checking on the others to make sure they made it to their marks all right. “Everyone appears to be set,” she said.

  “Good, we just have to wait on Fox then. But he should be out here any minute though, even after re-calculating after the setback.”

  “He’d better.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve never known Fox to miss a mark.”

  And he didn’t miss either, he was right on time, to the second. A small puff of green smoke floating out from underneath the back door was the signal to let us know to move forward. I radioed to the rest of the team to get ready to move out on our signal as we made our way towards the door. We got to it and slipped in, unnoticed as far as we knew at that point.

  Fox was right there to greet us, “Welcome.” He wiped his brow, “That was a close one, that eye was an upgraded unit.”

  I patted him on the back, “You did good, Fox. Let’s go.” We three traveled down the back hallway towards the main control room. We had to access the main systems in order to shut it down properly. Burns wanted to just turn the station into a crater but that would’ve triggered fail safes and make shutting the power down virtually impossible. It had to be done in such a way so that the other stations wouldn’t detect any changes in the flow of the power.

  It was eerily quiet inside the halls. Either Fox was really good at what he did, and I mean really, REALLY good, or they were ignoring vital parts of their operation. We met zero resistance the whole way through there. Since I helped set up most of the power stations I knew how to navigate most of them easily. After a few minutes of walking we finally arrived in the main control center for the station.

  “Now what?” Crist asked as her and Fox kept a look out at the door.

  “Now I have to access the main system.”

  “Do you have access?” Fox asked.

  “I used to but I’m guessing there is probably a single entry point into the system, one which only Mendel can access. I can probably hack into though, it shouldn’t be that hard.” I started typing on the console and sure enough was met with encryption after encryption. It was not easy to say the least. “They must’ve really beefed up the security parameters. Some of these blocks look very new to me.” We sat there in silence as I hacked away and they stood sentinel over the room.

  After several minutes had passed I got myself in. I raised my hands in the air, “I am the master. You can’t keep me out of anything, bitch.”

  “Now what?”

  “Now it’s just the simple, yet precise task of rerouting and bypassing power channels so that they cease flowing through this station. Then afterwards, we have to work our way inwards until we can shut down the station just inside the inner wall.”

  Crist looked at me like I was the craziest person in the world at that moment, “Inside the inner wall?!”

  “I know how it sounds and it’s gonna be dangerous. But it’s the only way and by that time their systems will be seriously disadvantaged.”

  “Will they not notice fluctuations in their processes?” Fox, obviously not feeling a need to continue to keep watch, walked up behind me to look at the screen.

  “Only if they run tests, which at this point will not be necessary for several more years.”

  “Why?” Crist had also made her way into the room.

  “Because it can’t be done. Running a check on all the systems is a massive undertaking for a compound this size. It takes so long and brings down vital systems for inappropriate amounts of time that you’d be wise to only do every decade or so.”

  “How long has it been since it was last run?”

  “We were running it during The Invasion. That’s how they got in so easily. I don’t know if it was brilliant timing or if Mendel had inside information, but that’s when they struck. The diagnostics program locks after the tests are done and there’s no way to unlock it.”

  “Sounds like kind of a pointless system. Why would it lock?”

  “To prevent accidental checks and because we were arrogant. The system was designed so nearly flawlessly that we didn’t think this would be a problem. Turns out it’s the best idea anyone has had, hind sight being twenty-twenty.” I was nearly done at that point. I just had to finalize a couple demands. However, it was then that the call came in over the radio.

  “Come back! We got company!” Saturn’s voice crackled through the static. She sounded alarmed, which was unusual and made us go on full alert.

  “Saturn, whaddya got?” I responded.

  “We got a seriously large contingent of Bloodless advancin’ on our location.”

  “What’s the count and distance?”

  “I see maybe three dozen, that’s three six, thirty six. They are right about four klicks out. It may just be a patrol.”

  “Fuck, that’s way too many for a patrol. They know we’re here.” It wasn’t an ideal situation, obviously, and I was hoping real hard there would be enough time to finish the process. Three dozen bloodless were not a very good matchup for eight people. “I’m almost done, advance to second stage positions and wait for us to exit the building.”

  “Affirmative. Out.”

  “Out.” I doubled my speed but I could only go as fast as the system would allow. There were just a few crucial steps left, and if they weren’t complete everything would be lost.

  Saturn radioed back in a few minutes later, “Heads up, they’ve doubled speed. They definitely know we’re here. Get the hell out of there before it’s too late!”

  “I can’t,” I yelled back, “if I stop now this will all be for nothing!” The damn system wasn’t letting me go any faster; it was like trying to run fast in a dream where everything was in slow motion. “Two more minutes!”

  “Fuck, that’s cutting it close. We’ll keep ‘em headed off for as long as possible. Out.”

  The end of the process was agonizingly slow, definitely not a system set up for emergency situations. As I sat there, with sweat pouring down my face, I couldn’t help but wonder how they knew we were there. Fox had disabled all of the security systems and from all of the scouting we had done we knew they rarely sent patrols this far out.

  The shutdown was at ninety-five percent.

  “They’re within a mile now! Moving fast!”

  Ninety-six percent.

  “They split into two groups! They’re going to surround the substation!”

  Ninety-seven percent.

  “Daniel! Ima let rip some napalm! Move ya asses! Now!”

  Ninety-eight percent. A shudder indicating the detonation of a napalm bomb rumbled through the station. Ninety-nine percent.

  “Everybody drop back to the station to regroup! We’re done here!”

  One hundred percent!

  The system required a password to complete the process. I entered it and we got our asses out of there as quick as possible. We went out the front but didn’t see any sign of our other people at first. Surprisingly enough Buggs was the first one to show up at the rendezvous point. I had totally forgot he was even out there, not a good trait for a leader, I know, but that was his M.O.

  “You all right?” I asked as soon as he was within earshot.

  “Fine.”

  “Did you see anything? Any information?”

  “Yeah. Bloodies comin’. Not sent from base.”

  “What do you mean,” Crist said as she joined us.

  “Comin’ from outside.”

  That was something I had never heard of be
fore, “From the outside?”

  “Yup. Fresh bodies.”

  “Well, at least they’ll be easier to take out,” Crist said looking relieved.

  I nodded in agreement and at the same time Crowder and Saturn showed up. Moments later Burns and Pillar arrived, which was perfect because the Bloodless were right on top of us by then. We could hear a large cluster of footsteps closing in on us. I motioned for everyone to move out and we did so immediately. However, by that time they had started to track us. We don’t know how they kept so close and in synch with our movements, but they did, to devastating effect.

  We made it to the bell tower school house that Saturn and Crowder had garrisoned but we could still hear the Bloodless hot on our tail. We had to keep moving so our pace quickened. Eventually we came to a big open area just outside of Abiyah. By the looks of the field, a large battle had been fought here at one point. Not by us, perhaps by another outfit. There were multiple trenches dug with scorch marks and discarded shells strewn about the ground.

  “We can’t shake ‘em!” Pillar’s yell came from the back.

  I looked over at Fox and he nodded and took off. “Set off a diversion! Slow them down so we can take cover!”

  Burns grunted and went right to work. He pulled the grenade launcher off his back and sent a couple shells screaming through the air. They both found targets in buildings that were crowding the streets, which fell kicking up dirt and dust but blocking the street at the same time.

  “Good work Burns! Now they’ll have to go around if they want to keep up with us. Let’s get down in that far trench, and wait for Fox’s return.”

  I lead the team to the target trench which was good because it had some extra cover and a make shift lean-to. We moved swiftly over the boards that connected the trenches and scrambled into the final one. We hunkered down there to wait for Fox.

  “Damn Buggs, why you smell so rank man?!” Burns almost retched as he knelt next to Buggs.

  “Seriously,” added Crist, “you smell like a Bloodless.”

  “I know. Bloodless track by scent. Can’t smell you, can’t find you.”

  Stunned silence ensued, all thoughts of impending Bloodless forgotten. This was the first time we had ever heard any information like this. I was the first to speak, “Really? How do you know?” I tried to keep the question resentment and anger free, but it was difficult at that point.

  “Happy accident. Cornered one night. Forced to hide in dumpster. Full of rotting bodies. Never bothered to look inside. Got away undetected. Been stinkin’ ever since.”

  “Don’t you think that woulda been a good tip to share with the rest of us?!” Saturn was visibly pissed, as were most of us at that point.”

  “They also track by sound, keep it down Saturn!” Crowder hissed.

  “All right, all right!” I had to take control of the situation, we couldn’t afford to have anyone fly off the handle, which was a constant fear of mine with this group. “Buggs, when we get out of here you’re going to help us all stink,” Buggs nodded. “Until then, let’s get our focus together because I have a feeling we’re going to have to fight our way out of here.”

  “What?!” Crist didn’t like this option, she wasn’t exactly a fighter. “No, no, no. This was supposed to be an in and out job. No fighting.”

  “You know, for a weapons specialist, you’re a pretty big coward.” Saturn just had to give her two cents.

  “I designed them, I don’t fire them you fucking cunt. I’m a pacifist.”

  “A pacifist who facilitates and promotes violent aggression? Sounds like a psych major’s dissertation.”

  “Fuck you Saturn.”

  “Saturn, just shut the fuck up. Crist, you’ll be fine, keep close to me,” I said hotly. Those two were always fighting. Crist smiled meekly. We could hear footsteps moving fast towards our location. Crowder looked out and then spun back around.

  “Fox is coming this way, full tilt.” It was odd for Fox to move out in the open like that but apparently speed was more of a factor than stealth. I peeked my head around the cover to get a better look. Once I spotted Fox I noticed he was making an odd flailing gesture.

  “What do you suppose that means?” I asked as I turned to the group.

  Crowder took out his binoculars and focused them on Fox. “It looks like he’s waving for us to get down, but I could be wrong.”

  I looked back out and sure enough he was throwing his arms up and down, palms flat to the ground. It definitely looked like a “get down” signal. “Why would we need to get down?”

  FWIP

  We all heard the sound. Nobody was able to comprehend it at first, but that all changed rather quickly.

  “Crist!” Crowder yelled first. I spun around quickly and saw Crist crumpled in a heap, all the blood draining from her head. The very breath from my lungs escaped into the air and left me dizzy and wobbly. My mind refused to take in what was transpiring before my eyes. How was it even happening? I first looked at Saturn, but her gun was leaned up against a wall, nowhere near her reach.

  Everyone was absolutely dumbfounded. How could she drop like that unless a bullet hit her? How could a bullet even hit her? These were Bloodless that were chasing after us, not the military. Guns weren’t part of the equation, were they?

  Fox came hurtling into the trench and knocked into me as he took cover. That jolt jarred me out of my temporary stupor. Suddenly the gravity of the situation came down upon me, but I was still half dazed. I knew we needed information and Fox was the only one with any at this point.

  “Fox, how many are out there?!”

  CHAPTER 2

  Dr. Justice and the Terrible, Horrible,

  No Good, Very Bad Day

  “Good morning Dr. Justice,” the greying security officer said brightly as a jet black, freshly polished Cadillac pulled up to the gate with the driver side window down and a relatively young man looking out.

  The man called Justice held out his ID badge for the scanner, “Good morning Lou! How’s the wife?”

  “Pain in my ass as usual,” he said, “but what else is new?” Justice chuckled and paused as the gate slowly clinked upwards. “Have a good day sir,” said the guard.

  “Oh, no doubt about that today,” he said with a grin as he drove through the gate and into the parking structure underneath the large laboratory in front of him. This is the main GoD Laboratories building, the nerve center of their operations. It jutted up from the flat, desert landscape and stuck out like a DNA molecule, because that’s what it was built to look like. The main offices and floors were in the backbone of the molecule that twisted up into the air. The base pairs connecting the backbones housed the laboratories that differed on each floor. At the very top of the building was a large round structure that served as the CEO’s office. A couple spires were attached to the top of the building, they sometimes expelled mysterious fogs but nobody ever questioned it. A ten foot high, four foot thick, solid lead wall formed an impenetrable square around building.

  The only “weak” part of the entire set up was the employee’s primary entrance gate that was constructed with stainless steel and only a foot thick. It was made this way because the physics of anything heavier were not very time effective. The gate used to take about a minute to raise before and that was just too long since the gate had to open and close for each employee. However, they did (over) compensate with an extra battery of fully loaded defensive mechanisms.

  There were no chances taken with the security of this compound. It was the fifth compound for this particular company, the previous ones having been assaulted by heavily armed activists. The business being conducted was not kept secret at GoD, for the most part. The scientists who worked there weren’t exactly humble, but they finally took their spot atop society, so no one could really blame them. Even in a world that had shunned all forms of spiritual deities, morality was still a thing, despite many theories to the contrary. Without the pseudo-presence of a benevolent being looking down u
pon them, the majority of people still acted like decent human beings.

  However, any laws even closely resembling ones inspired by any religion had been abolished decades ago which opened up whole new worlds in science and scientific exploration. This allowed researchers to explore areas that were previously deemed taboo and controversial. While these subjects, cloning for example, were finally taken up, there still remained moral objectors to these practices. A whole new array of activists and protesters developed all over the world.

  Things eventually turned violent as there were no laws in place for what these scientists were doing which made any form of court proceedings irrelevant. When the protestors were not able take a legal, peaceful route, they quickly turned to violence and vandalism. Since GoD was taking on some of the most controversial aspects of science in the world, they were targeted very often by that violence. Many of the scientists were out right attacked or harassed at work and even at their homes, they could not escape it.

  The buildings GoD previously occupied were usually burned down at some point, once the activists discovered how to breach the security systems. Not anymore, however, as this particular incarnation of GoD had stood tall for over a decade. The employees no longer had anything to fear away from work either as a special town named Abiyah was built just for them, complete with its own private military.

  The higher ups spared no expense when it came to the safety of their employees, plus expense was nothing to be spared since money was no object to GoD Labs. They also spared no expense when it came to funding research for their scientists, but that is because the higher ups were scientists, and Mr. Justice was certainly a higher up. He had a big day ahead of him. They were on the verge of one of the biggest breakthroughs mankind had ever seen.

  Dr. Justice exited his vehicle that he had parked in the executive lot at the bottom of the parking structure. He went to the elevator, pushed the up button and waited for it to arrive. As he stood waiting, another man walked up and stood next to him. “’Mornin’ Jack,” he said.

  “Justice! Mornin’ man,” Jack replied extending his hand. Jack Strayer was Justice’s right hand man, but he was a bit of an oddity in the science world. The scientist archetype had remained fairly standard over the years but there was that stray oddball who did not fit the mold. Jack had an athletic build, well-developed social skills, and two full tattoo sleeves. He also sported a short mane of tightly rolled dreadlocks, which was a mainstream style at the time. “You ready for today?”