As soon as he sat in the blue metal elevator capsule, Thorn instructed the navigation console to take course for the hospital dome. He had with him a black rucksack in which he packed provisions, including a full water bottle and a small blanket. He had taken his work belt too, from which the battery powered an attached torch, screwdriver and metal cutter. This was the first time an elevator journey took him to a possible unknown destination. As the elevator approached a tunnel leading to the hospital dome, it hooked onto the mono-rail above which transported the capsule through the tunnel.
At least the mono-rail was still working even with the closed dome at the end of the tunnel. His capsule came to an abrupt stand-still as it collided with something solid. Thrown from his seat, after he regained orientation he noticed how his ears rang from the sound of the crash. Thorn thought that the capsule hit the dome's seal, but realised that the normal journey through the tunnel was twice as long. He tried to open the capsule door but forgot that was first possible once the capsule reached the destination.
After giving thought to the problem, an idea came to Thorn. He was now proud of himself, considering the current sequence of events and having decided earlier to bring his work belt with him. He could now use the cutter to cut around the door frame of the capsule. The battery always re-charged itself whenever Thorn was near or within a dome network. So it could cope with the challenge of cutting through the metal oval shell of the elevator capsule. On the side of the cutter was a sheath, that contained a pair of protective goggles, which he now opened and placed the goggles around his head.
He began with cutting through the metal side panel. The loud grinding noise within the capsule was unbearable to the ear as the cutting disc sliced through metal. The sparks ricocheted around the inside of the capsule, many dowsing out on his skin and clothes. As he cut through the last few centimetres of metal he kicked the middle of the cut metal panel, which forced the rough-edged plate outwards and drop one metre; before stopping with a few loud clang noises on the concrete tunnel floor. Thorn sprang out of the capsule to make sure that he landed on his feet.
The only lighting in the tunnel came from the lights fitted underneath the capsules. But they provided enough light for him to see. For a strange reason though the tunnel was now a long storage room, as there was stacks of barrels, boxes and containers. Looking ahead into the distance, Thorn now knew what his capsule had hit into – it was other elevator capsules. Looking left, he saw another queue of capsules parked facing the opposite direction. Something blocked the flow of capsules on mono-rail network in both directions.
Thorn walked along the painted black and yellow striped hazard line on the ground and tapped the sides of the capsules with the nozzle of his cutter. He listened for signs of anyone else who may be stuck in the capsules in which they had been travelling. As he proceeded along the line he heard nothing and so guessed that each of the capsules must have been returning empty to one of the elevator network depots; after it delivered the passengers. When he tapped the last few, a yell came from the one closest to him, which judging from the outer shell of the capsule had returned from the hospital dome. As a health measure, capsules arriving at any hospital dome went through a sterilization wash.
He called back “Wait! Stay away from the capsule door and make sure that ears and eyes are covered – I'll cut out a doorway for you.” “Okay” he understood, noticing this it was a female's voice. Thorn pulled out the cutter, put his protective goggles on and cut around the capsule door. Once finished he explained to the passenger she should now kick the door open. As instructed, she kicked the door out from the side of the capsule. After the cut metal chunk from the capsule crash-landed on the floor, Thorn went over to the capsule to help the passenger to the ground. As she came to the doorway he could tell by the uniform she was a nurse, one of True's colleagues; but he knew none of them by name.
Now she was out of the capsule he introduced himself “Hi, I'm Thorn. I'm searching for my sister. She is a nurse too. Trudy is her name, 'True' to friends and family.”
“Thanks for getting me out. I thought I'd never escape – I was in there for what must have been hours. By the way my name is Jessica. I couldn't even email anybody as the service was unavailable in the tunnel.”
Thorn added “That may explain why True didn't answer my email. I'm concerned because True and I had arranged for her to be at my place at seven. She didn't turn up, which was unusual for her.”
Jessica, waving her blond hair back in shape with a shake of her head, said “Yes, I know True well. We've shared a shift many a time. If it's any help to you, I seen her early this morning; but wasn't on her shift and so I'm not sure when she left.”
“Thanks Jessica – I'm grateful for any information I can get at the moment.” Thorn said as he packed the cutter and goggles away.
“Hey, pleasure to help. I suppose I'd better not delay you any longer. Thanks again for the rescue.” Jessica said.
She now seated herself on one of the storage boxes, looking around as if waiting for another form of public transport to arrive.
He reflected back to when he met with Leo and Relt. And considering the current threat said “Jessica, I don't reckon an emergency transport solution will be in place soon to replace the elevator capsules. Now I sure cannot guarantee that the route ahead of me, searching for my sister, will lead to any form of transport; but you're welcome to come with me.”
Although Jessica did not let on, to date she led a secluded life; which was more or less the main reason she became a nurse. As a nurse she concentrated on her job, spent many extra hours at work and regularly volunteered for double shifts. During her time off she stayed at home most of the time, and from the comfort of her couch placed orders for meals and shopping. She had no friends nor living relatives who she could visit. So Jessica was glad to receive an invitation to go somewhere, even though it was from a complete stranger, under unusual circumstances, with an unclear destination and possibly dangerous journey.
“Well I've nothing planned, and if I might be of help with your search, at least I'd have re-paid you the favour; for getting me out of the capsule. So yeah! Thanks, I'll come with you.” Jessica said in a spontaneous reply.
With that decided, Thorn first offered Jessica a drink from his water bottle, took out his torch and pulled the headband out from the side. Now with Thorn wearing the torch with headband, they both carried on along the tunnel following the line of mono-rail. As they walked, he wanted tell her of the virus, but did not wish to trouble her. Close to the end of the tunnel the air felt unusual, damp and smelt stale; and Jessica thought she heard people's voices.
She said “Thorn Stop. Stand still. Don't talk, just listen.”
Thorn not receiving such audio waves himself did as she asked. “Listen. Again! And again! It sounds as though people are screaming for help.” Jessica whispered.
Thorn had to admit “No, sorry nothing.” and continued to move forward.
They now walked in silence to pinpoint, if the voices called out again, from which location they came. The air become even more damp and fowl smelling as if it had escaped from a sewage pipe. Gagging for fresh air, which was not available, Jessica opened her rucksack and pulled a pair of surgical masks and handed one to Thorn.
'An excellent idea' Thorn thought 'As the virus may spread by air.'.
The tunnel end came into sight. This time it was Thorn who caught the voices first. And understood “Help!” “Let us out please!” “Stop them!” “Stop the biting, killing!” “Have mercy!”
Thorn took a few steps back and looked at Jessica. He said “I heard the voices too this time. Did you catch what they shouted?”
“Not everything, no. I deciphered calls for help and wanting to leave the dome.” she said.
He was glad she did not catch the last part, claims of being eaten by something. Thorn remembered the fluid they examined and reckoned the people on the other side of the seal may have meant a virus attack.
“Okay Jessica, my cutter still has enough power to slice a small doorway through that seal. Before I start though, I still think that we should defend ourselves just in case; as they're distressed enough.” Thorn explained.
In agreement, Jessica said “Yes, good point. If you get the cutter ready, I'll check those storage boxes on the other side for something suitable as a make-do weapon.”
Thorn nodded his head in consent and prepared the cutter and donned the protective goggles. Jessica walked over to the pile of black plastic storage boxes. Upon closer inspection, she found that the boxes had no locks and so she could remove the lids with ease. Without emptying the contents, she held each box stable with one hand and stuck her other arm in and combed through the contents; discarding soft materials and extracting items which might serve as a weapon.
Still not having found any item that even neared being a weapon, she finished checking the last box from the pile. Disappointed, she returned empty handed.
“Sorry Thorn, but those boxes contained nothing of use.” She explained.
Thorn searched as if in hope to find a weapon secured on one of the tunnel walls. As he looked left, his eyes stopped on a cupboard embedded in the wall, with large black printed letters on it, which read 'W.A.F ONLY'.
He suggested “Jessica, let's look in the cupboard on that wall.” They both went over to the grey steel wall cupboard.
Jessica arrived first, tried the door and confirmed “Locked! I thought so.”
Thorn said “Stand back.” and once she was out of the immediate proximity, used the cutter to remove the lock bolt.
Jessica opened the cupboard door, taking care not to touch the cut spot, which was still hot. Upon inspection, she had no idea how to use the items inside, but she knew that they must be a form of weapon used by the World Administration Force; as she had seen soldiers carrying them.
Each weapon hung from a rack in the cupboard, and she wanted to take one for each of them; when Thorn said “We'll take every one of them, just in case.”
Although she did not know why they should need more spare weapons, Jessica took them as Thorn suggested. She handed one to Thorn and slung the spare ones over her shoulder by the slings. Thorn, as if a boy in a toy shop, inspected the weapon. It was fifty centimetres long, coloured dark blue, and made from steel. The weapon had a trigger, pistol-grip, chamber, butt, rear and foresight, chamber and barrel; and was unlike of any other personal weapon he had seen.
At the front-end of the barrel was a small pin-hole. To test, Thorn pointed his weapon at a space on the wall and fired. A small stream of liquid fired out and splashed against the wall, but nothing else happened. Puzzled, he lowered the weapon, looked at Jessica and shrugged his shoulders. Thorn went over to the wall and touched the damp patch which had formed as soon as the liquid had soaked into the concrete. He held his finger under of his nostrils to smell. Within seconds his eyes stung, the lids shut in reflex and his nose blocked air intake.
Jessica grinned and said “Liquid pepper spray!”
After he rubbed his eyes, Thorn said “Just what we need now, should the circumstances demand such defence measures.”
Thorn looked at Jessica who, even with three weapons now on her person, still had an innocent expression. 'Should I be taking her with me into peril?' he thought to himself. Thorn considered what might happen to her if she remained behind and gave the answer to his own question with 'Yes I am'.
With the cutter from its sheath, and goggles over his eyes, he switched the machine on and began to cut a doorway in the tunnel seal. As he continued to cut, Jessica had a weapon aimed over his shoulder to give him cover; even though if she asked herself if she was confident enough to use the weapon on someone – the answer was 'No'.
As Thorn cut through the second part of the make-shift doorway, although the noise from the cutter munching up metal was loud; both Jessica and Thorn still heard the hysterical screams coming from within the hospital dome. Thorn cut through the last thirty centimetres of metal as the shear pressure from the people on the other side bent the metal door as if on a hinge. With his nostrils full of the stench of burnt metal, and unable to view much beyond the door through his protective goggles; Thorn, not prepared for what came next, could not have stopped the mass of people bursting through the doorway.
As the door snapped open it pushed Thorn back. Coming out from complete darkness, the people became dazzled even though lighting was of low brightness. Jessica made use of the moment and squirted liquid pepper spray at the faces of the first ones who came through the doorway.
Thorn shouted to Jessica “Stop spraying them. Save the weapons for whatever is chasing these people.”
Jessica ran over and helped Thorn to his feet. They could just stand back and watch as hundreds of people squeezed through the doorway Thorn had cut. As these people escaped the dome, they continued screaming as they ran out through the tunnel. Each person who came through the doorway, had been losing blood. Many had large bite- shaped wounds and a few of them even missing finger digits or complete limbs. Out of fear, everyone escaping the dome looked back as they left – scared that they might still be followed by something.
Once the doorway was free of those escaping, Thorn looked at Jessica and said “You know that you have time to go back if you wish?”
She looked back at Thorn and said with a small grin “Well I've still got nothing planned.”
With the weapons pointing to the front, Jessica and Thorn moved through the doorway into the dome. Apart from the immediate proximity which Thorn's torch light covered, everywhere else was in complete darkness. The dome floor was soft and Thorn realised that although he had expected concrete flooring as in the tunnel, it was of sandy dry earth. Within minutes, they both sensed movement to the side, somewhere in the shadows. The stink now gagged them through the surgical face masks.
Although not being military trained, Thorn's reflex was fast, now that adrenalin flowed. And having sensed the movement, he turned his head to shine the torch light in that direction. Jessica looked in the same direction. Thorn then found the source of the horrible rotting stench. His front view was full of the scaled chest of a creature he never guessed existed. He gave the beast a quick look-over from the clawed feet up to the head, not believing what now confronted him.
This green beast's body was bulging with over-dimensional muscle, and Thorn reckoned that the thing must have been at least three metres high. At this point another vial stench of body odour mixed with the general smell of rotting substances surrounded where they stood. On top of the creature's skull, the scales formed a horn point in the centre.
Thorn's sub-conscious tried to convince him that it was a crocodile, but the more he looked at the face; the more he was unable place this thing into any animal category.
Most confusing was the yellow slit eyes positioned in the face front akin to a human, and although it just had nostrils, had scaled lips. Judging from the mixed attire of rag clothing and armour and holding up a club as weapon; Thorn guessed that they came from a pre-history era. He reminded himself that the newer breed's history just went back to the war and establishment of the World Administration. Next to this beast appeared another one, and behind that one even more movement. The blood-ridden trickling drool from the reptilians' scaled mouths took him to the verge of vomiting.
Thorn assumed that the creatures had no grasp of the English language and shouted to Jessica “We're surrounded by these crocs or whatever they are. If they move closer give them a dose of pepper spray.”
Jessica gulped, as she returned from the shock of being confronted by beings not of this world, and shouted back “Um, Okay.”
To the pair's surprise a reptilian, the one Thorn had spotted first; spoke up and said in a deep rough voice as it licked the blood from jagged pointed teeth “Do you humanss think that you can stop uss?”
Thorn did not answer and instead released a direct dose of pepper spray at the talking reptilian's face. At least expecting a small level of protection from the weapon, the disappointment could be seen in the humans' facial expressions; as the reptilian did not notice the liquid landing on the hard scaled face. Now panicking, Thorn called to Jessica “Follow me, as quick as you can!” and ran off to the left along the base of the dome.
At that instant he had no idea how quick the reptilians could run and how close they had been behind him. He noted that the tugging on his jacket was Jessica though, just keeping a hold of him. As he kept on running, he stopped himself falling over a set of stairs leading to a storage bunker. Thorn remembered from the step pattern, that they led to a storage room containing stock of panel sealing compound and other materials and equipment.
He found his bearings fast and descended the steps together with Jessica. At the bottom of the concrete stairs, Jessica gave a sigh of relief as Thorn pulled out a white plastic key card from his jacket pocket which opened the door. They entered the storage room and locked the door behind them.
Thorn opened his rucksack and handed Jessica his water bottle again, from which she took a few large gulps. As she handed back the bottle, he drank from it himself. They both wanted to ask each other what creatures did they confront out in the dome, but neither of them had answers. So they remained seated in silence for a few minutes, catching breath back.
Thorn asked “Jessica, you saw that the liquid pepper spray didn't harm them?”
“You bet I saw it!” she said.
Thorn continued “Okay, well we have one other chance as no doubt they're now queued on the other side of that door; just waiting for us to run into the trap. First we need to empty the weapons over in the corner so we don't get dosed with pepper spray ourselves. I have an idea.”
Jessica obeyed and released the liquid by keeping the weapon trigger pressed. Thorn joined in and helped do the same with the spare weapons. He prised open an industrial barrel of grey panel sealing compound used for the outer dome repairs. And poured in transparent thinning liquid from a huge canister and closed the lid of the barrel as quick as possible.
Thorn explained “Okay, I hope to find a method for filling up these weapons when they're empty.” as he examined the weapon.
Jessica added “Look at this Thorn. That knob behind the rear-sight can be pulled back – I suppose that it works as a syringe does, sucking in any liquid form.”
“Great!” said Thorn and continued “My idea is that we fill the weapons with the sealant stuff. When you shoot it from your weapon, aim for their eyes and nostrils – this stuff will go solid within seconds as soon as it comes into contact with the air.”
After they had filled the weapons, Thorn searched the storage room again, and this time found something. He held a load of glass test tubes, and a metal test tube holder between his left arm and chest and carried them over to the sealant barrel. As he Looked at Jessica, Thorn explained that the tubes used to be used for testing the various compound mixtures made.
He added “I'll fill these tubes up with the same stuff we have loaded in our weapons. We can throw them at the crocs' heads if out of shooting range.”
Jessica gave a nod of her head in agreement and commented “Good idea! If those beasts are right outside though, we need to get passed them!”
Thorn uncorked test tubes and filling them with sealant said “My idea was to let them come in, instead of us trying to leave, at first.”
Shocked, she said “What? You're not serious are you? I know that our survival chances are low, but I'm not up for a suicide mission!”
Thorn said “No, listen Jessica, I mean that if we tried to climb monster-crowded steps, considering we're not sure that my sealant theory will work; we stand to risk much more. My plan is to wire up a weapon from the ceiling and aim it at the door. We run out past those creatures once they're hit by sealant and we still have our other loaded weapons and my home-made grenades in reserve.”
Jessica exhaled a sigh of relief and said “That sounds better. Can I help?”
Glad for the offer of help, Thorn explained that they needed to affix the weapon to the top shelf, just below the ceiling; so the barrel points at the door. As the range is still close-quarter, they had to control the trigger by using a long piece of cable from the hiding position.
Once Thorn climbed up the shelving and reached the top shelf, Jessica passed up a weapon, metal wire and electrical cable they had found in a box on another shelf. Thorn secured the weapon to the frame of the top shelf, with the weapon positioned at the exact angle he wanted – so it pointed at the storage room door. As Thorn continued setting up the trap, Jessica became alert to the repeated series of light 'Click' and dull 'Thump' sounds; which came from the other side of the storage room door. She sensed that the sounds occurred as beasts descended the concrete steps.
She urged Thorn in a nervous tone “Hurry! Hurry! The creatures are outside the door now.”
He secured one end of the cable to the trigger and unravelled the cable from the wooden drum as he descended the shelving as quick as possible without injuring himself. Jessica took the rest of the cable to the make-shift hideout behind the barrels while Thorn pulled the storage room door ajar. He ran over to Jessica's hiding place afterwards. As pre-arranged, after disconnecting the torch and activating the infra-red power supply from the battery on his belt, he held the cable tight. And Jessica had the torch aimed at the doorway and switched it off ready.
Thorn had a thought rushing through his mind, that the reptilians might move towards the door in a tactful and careful manner and sense it was a trap; in which case the fight was lost. What he did not know was that reptilians classed themselves to be of the highest standard of warrior, and most superior of species on Earth. So when eliminating humans, tactics had not been aforethought. If it just took one reptilian punch to burst the door open and off its hinges, well Thorn did not want to be on the receiving end.
As soon as the steel door flew open and the first few reptilians stepped over the threshold into the storage room, Jessica still saw their eyes through the dark. She switched the torch on and the light dazzled the unwanted guests as planned.
She shouted “Now!”
Upon hearing her command, Thorn gave a strong tug on the cable which pulled the weapon trigger. As if rehearsed, the sealant squirted out from the weapon; and as the reptilians stormed into the room they received a helping of grey slim which covered the top of the scaled heads, nostrils and mouths. The muscle-bound soldiers could not reach the scaled faces with the finger claws, to remove the sealant. In a state of panic they hissed non-stop and bashed everything around them with the one metre long studded wooden clubs; including each other. Without being able to view the prey, the pair could not locate Jessica and Thorn in the room.
Jessica switched the torch back off, handed it back to Thorn, whereupon he placed the band around his head again and re-connected the power cable from his belt. They both kept near to the wall in a crouched position and remaining as quiet as possible followed it round to the left towards the room entrance. Once at the doorway threshold, they stood up and pointed the weapons to the front.
Upon Thorn hitting the 'On' torch switch, they sprayed the next pair of reptilians positioned on the steps. Thorn switched the torch back off and they both waited for a chance to move. After the sealant hardened, the pair of reptilians ran back up the steps in panic, tripped on the top step and disappeared into the darkness somewhere within the hospital dome.
Thorn whispered to Jessica “Let's head back to the capsule mono- rails, so we have more lighting.”
“Okay.” She whispered back.
Jessica did not stray from Thorn who, with his cover blown, switched the torch on again. With her weapon pointed to the rear, she covered the flanks too. Still walking as quiet as possible, they listened for any sounds ahead that might be signs of trouble. Before the mono- rail was in sight, they heard a loud banging on metal and muffled screams. Thorn showed Jessica by hand signal they should adopt a crouched position. As a precaution he switched the torch off again. The place was now in darkness, so he tapped her shoulder to let her know he intended to move forward still in a crouched position and she should follow.
When they got as close as possible without being seen, due to the lights from a few capsules hanging from the mono-rail; they could match the sounds with the scene out of focus to them. They moved up behind a pile of plastic boxes. Daring a peek over the boxes, they first seen three reptilians on guard. And in front of those another pair combing the capsules for prey. Neither Jessica nor Thorn could help the man, slaughtered by the reptilians after first battering the capsule out of shape.
The reptilians intended to take human remains back to wherever they came from, maybe for others not on this hunting trip; as they had large sacks hung over the shoulders and tied to waist belts. Both reptilian soldiers proceeded to the next capsule and begun with the battering routine on the sides. After the creatures' clubs hit and dented the capsule, even though the inner padding silenced noise somewhat, from outside the screams from within had been audible. Before either Jessica or Thorn had time to recognise the voice, a reptilian ripped open the side of the capsule as if its claw was a tin opener. The high pitched scraping sound as the metal ripped was painful to the human ear.
At that instant both Jessica and Thorn no longer needed to recognise the voice as they now saw it was Thorn's sister; who cursed between her screams and was soaking wet from perspiration caused by pure fear and panic. Her screams cooked the reptilian adrenalin – the soldiers getting more excited, with those on guard roaring at each other which motivated them more. The reptilians at the capsules joined in the frenzy and stamped on the ground in anticipation. Jessica and Thorn both stood up and ran forward. Thorn now switched the torch back on again and Jessica had her finger ready on the weapon trigger. He now had let his weapon drop to hang on the shoulder strap and had his hands full of the test tube grenades he had made earlier.
Thorn shouted as loud as possible “You! Yes you, you ugly crocs – get a dose of this!” as Jessica squirted an adequate helping of sealant at the three reptilian guards' heads.
Thorn had taken the initiative and as Jessica ambushed the reptilian guards, he followed after the others and launched the grenades at them both. This pair of reptilians, still bloated after consuming the other capsule traveller, could not react and instead just stood and watched what happened to the colleagues on guard duty. Team work was unknown to this species.
Jessica now called to the last of the three guards “Plenty for you as well” and fired off a another streak of sealant from her weapon.
As the reptilians did not run away but continued to sway the clubs around, Jessica and Thorn sprayed the scaled bodies too; and once the sealant hardened pushed them away. Thorn helped his distressed sister out of the capsule.
True hugged Thorn tight and still crying and shivering said “I thought I was next in line! I thought it was the end!”
Thorn calmed his sister with a another hug and said “Hey 'sis, it's Okay, everything is Okay now. Look who else came with me!”
True looked up and at first did not recognise her colleague – what with the weapon and a fresh aura of a battlefield-inoculated warrior.
Jessica stepped forward and asked “Hey, it's me Jessica, remember me?”
True served a question of her own “Jessica? Is that you?”
“Yes, it's me.” Jessica confirmed and handed True the other spare weapon and said “Take this – you might need it. We need to get out fast.”
True took the weapon and looked puzzled at Thorn.
Thorn explained “We converted these liquid pepper spray weapons to shoot dome panel sealant and we aim at the eyes and nostrils.” as he pointed to the five reptilians who still bobbed around in a mummified condition. He added “We'll explain things later.”
True turned up her nostrils to repel what she thought was a smell from an open sewer and looked at Jessica's and Thorn's footwear and said “Phew! Those beasts had one last weapon, and you both stepped in it.”
Jessica and Thorn wiped donned boots and shoes clean with the seat cover from True's elevator capsule.
Thorn urged “Okay. Look, we don't know how they arrived or how many. Jessica and True if everything goes according to plan, a rescue team awaits us on the other side of the refuse disposal tube. As Jessica said, we need to move.”
The three now followed the round inner base of the dome. After a hundred metres they listened to a strange grinding sound. Thorn made a hand gesture showing they should stand still. They stopped and just listened. What caused the noise was rough metal items coming into forced contact, orchestrated by a chopping sound. Curiosity took priority over the current threat. Not discussing any change of plan, the three strayed away from the inside dome base, and went t