“Higher ranking officers lived in these houses, their families as well.”
The whole area was boxed off from street view by all the office buildings that surrounded it, they would be unseen by any pedestrian or car passing by. They walked behind the mini suburb and came across it's center were the dead clock tower stood, it was surrounded on all sides by a short one story building. The area of the building facing north had a driveway with a narrow glass booth that was covered in spider web cracks. Protruding from it an arm, painted in yellow and black stripes with the letters stop stenciled in red across it, hung askew across the driveway.
They probably had to sign in and show five or six forms of ID, Dig thought. This place was important during the Cold War, but now it was just a budget cut. The wind howled through the empty space between the houses and the dead clock tower. The darkness and the emptiness started to creep in on Dig, the police sirens and sound of cars going to and fro that was already distant seemed muted to him in here.
“We'll go in through the clock tower building.”
The door to the building was chained shut, AM without hesitation went in his backpack and pulled out a lock pick.
“Your always prepared.”
“I was a Boy Scout.”
AM removed the chains and began picking the lock to the door. After a few minutes there was a click, AM stood up and pulled open the door.
“After you.” he said
Dig walked in, the darkness seemed almost total, he was feeling like Mr. Magoo having to squint his way around. It looked similar to the room outside the principles office back in high school he thought. The linoleum tiles were peeling and braking after two years of being left to the elements. There were a few chairs and a small table covered with dust an inch thick, at the far end of the room was a door similar looking to the one at the end of the labyrinth, AM went over to the door and kneeled down and began operating on the lock.
“This might take a minute.” AM said.
Dig walked around the lobby, trying to watch his step on the chaotic mess of a floor. There were no windows, only the two doors but the lobby like room was cold and drafty.
“Got it.” AM said opening the door.
They came out to a long hall, AM removed an led flashlight and pointed it to the left and right to see what lay ahead. The hall had about a half dozen doors on each side made of heavy wood and frosted glass, names with military ranks and job titles like Officer of Communications and Director of Military Affairs painted on the glass.
All though the whole area was obviously abandoned, Dig still felt uneasy about being in a military installation albeit an abandoned one. Really dumb horror movies start that way, Dig realized smirking at his own wit. But the thought of some military police officer with a license to kill signed by good old uncle Sam still keeping guard with a half rabid German Shepard wouldn’t leave him.
“Your sure there's no more security, right?” Dig asked trying to sound neutral. “Do you think the police will notice the hole in the fence we made?”
“No, I wouldn't worry. There is the occasional police drive-by, and once a month a private security firm does a drive around for the storage company behind this depot, they wont be looking in this area unless there's been a robbery.”
That should have reassured him, AM knew a great deal about the local area, but the German Shepard with large fangs wouldn't stay out of his head. They walked down the hall and stopped in front of a pair of double doors, that opened to a set of wide concrete steps descending into ink black darkness. AM walked down a few steps too look.
“It's dark but there is light coming from further down.” he said.
“A light?! Maybe we shouldn't...”
“We have to.”
“But what if it's an Army cop or...”
“What were looking for is where that light is”
AM made his way down the steps, flashlight in hand, and entered a large room with three rows of reel to reel machines that stood five feet high. The room in this underground area was colder and draftier than up stairs, but was fortunately not filled with water. If there was any flooding in the buildings bottom floor they had yet to find it. The glare of AM's LED flashlight on the large plastic wheels that held the reels made them look like a set of eyes.
At the corner of this room was another door way, which lead to a shorter hallway lined with five doors. Behind the fifth door a pale orange light emanated at the bottom.
“It's here in this room,” AM said taking deep breaths working on the doors lock.
The wah of the Sir Doyle was a constant sound, AM removed the head set and opened the door. At first glance he thought it was a flood light, but instead came upon a large squarish hole in the ceiling. Above the room was the base of the clock tower where there was a large hole, went all the way through to where they stood. The last light on the dead clock face was shining down directly into the hole.
At a sharp angle below the hole a squarish divot was dug in the floor. Had it landed here and bounced around, AM wondered. At the far wall a chair laid on its sides, AM grabbed and placed it under the hole and stood on it.
“I want to see something.” he said.
The hole was wide enough for him to wriggle through to the top which was only a foot or so up. He put his head up through into the late winter wind. Looking around there was no way anyone could see inside with out entering the depot itself, no one in the neighborhood had seen anything when it arrived and it came after the military moved out. AM felt relief when it became evident no one had been here.
“Did it come through that hole?” Dig asked.
“I think it hit here and bounced...”
“Bounced? The cubes don't look like they can bounce, what did we find a tire from the landing gear. If it's a Firestone tire I'm outta here I had two blow out on me once at the same time.” Dig said being serious for once.
AM pointed the light at the wall farthest away from the hole. The wall was once plaster, but was now broken and ragged. Behind the plaster remnants were red bricks, AM walked slowly over and began to peel off the plaster and fully reveal the bricks behind. Dig helped tear out the remaining pieces, when it was free of the plaster, he saw a small black metal triangle sticking through.
“Is this it?” Dig said rubbing point with the tip of his finger.
“Yes, now we have to get it out.” AM said and began rummaging through his backpack
“How do we do that, some jackhammers? Maybe a little TNT to soften the bricks up?” he asked peering closely at the wall.
“This.” AM said holing up a miniature pick ax.
“For real?” he said staring at the tiny tool.
“This too,” he says handing Dig a small paint brush made of horse hair.
“Do we paint the wall before we take it down?”
“This is the safest way to do it. This is not much different than an archaeological dig”
“And the longest, why don't we just get a crow bar and wedge some of the bricks out? we'll be here until the Phillies lose game six this fall.”
“We might damage it.”
The idea did make sense, but Dig was not totally convinced.
“OK, but if it was bouncing around here wouldn't that have broken it?”
AM though for a moment before answering.
“Maybe, but what if we break it trying to get it out with a crowbar?”
At that Dig could have argued but conceded, AM was the leader. He handed Dig an object the size of a playing card deck. One side was quilted with a black material that felt thin but soft and strong, the other side looked like aluminum foil. Dig watched as AM took out another and unfolded it to the size of a blanket.
"Body Foil Wrap. " AM said. "Army Corp. of Engineers and designed by NASA , special forces in Afghanistan use it on the field. This metallic material absorbs body heat making fires for warmth unnecessary.
"Special forces use this? How'd you get one?"
"I have two." AM said smiling
"Eh...I'm surprised they sell this stuff." Dig said unfolding it and taking in the total size of it.
"They don't."
"You stole it?" Dig said surprised.
"Not exactly, I paid for it." he said earnestly
"How...from who? Do you mean like the black market?"
AM only shrugged.
"We can't have a fire and they'll keep us warm in temperatures well below freezing, though it maybe summer before this thing is free."
Dig looked down at the floor they would both have room to stretch out when sleeping, it was carpeted but still looked hard and cold. He tried squinting at the corner of the room too see if there was any sign of rat droppings but couldn't see despite the light from the dead clock tower.
"What about light the batteries wont last forever in that flashlight."
AM removed the Q pad from his hoody pouch and leaned it on the wall opposite the alien artifact and tapped the screen rapidly three times. Dig stepped back as a square of white light shot out in a beam from the Q pad screen and covered the whole wall.
"Let there be light." AM said.
The first night was grueling for Dig, the floor was as hard as it looked but, the Reynolds wrap comforter as Dig called it, was every bit as warm as AM said it would be. Still, the morning after Dig felt as if his a knee was suck in his spine for the rest of the day. AM did most of the excavating for the first few weeks, leaving Dig with much down time.
"Why don't I go looking for the cube while you dig out this thing,"
Dig suggested one morning.
"I don't think so, I need you here in case something happens to me and this needs immediate removal."
AM had spoken about this theoretical incident a few times with Dig already. Especially after their run in with the guy with the gun. When still ripping alone AM had a final contingency plan should he be pursued by whatever enemies and unable to evade capture or keep the cubes safe. Dig's eyes went wide when AM showed him the time bomb that looked like a heavy duty calculator lined with a stick of clay pierced by multicolored wires.
“Black market?”
"For the components, but Quake built them. It'll incinerate everything within a block of here. If I'm gone and you are...you know, you hit this red button and zero together for immediate detonation. If you need more time than that use the number pad to set the timer, it can go up to twelve minutes, just punch it in and hit the red button twice to activate."
“You’re gonna carry it, right?”
"We both get to carry one." AM said.
Dig thought back to the night he left Cammie and thought about jumping into the river, a chill ran up his spine when he thought about how close he came and was glad he never went through with it. But it seemed that he might have to if he were in trouble. If the military or a corporation wanted to make some kind of death ray with the cubes or whatever they were digging up, then shouldn't they give up their lives to prevent what ever destruction these things could cause humanity.
All though it scared Dig, he felt better about doing it for a more noble reason than a bad break up or weakness for drinking. Yeah, he thought sarcastically, Dig Robins the noble suicide bomber. After a few more weeks, AM had more than half of the object free.
It looked like the cube but bigger about the size and depth of a shoe box, what really caught Digs eye was the way it sat in the wall. It looked as if it cut right into the bricks, a clean, precise cut that formed perfectly around it. The alien box was encased in the same type of metal while its edges were of the plastic like material that had an amber shade to it. AM put his hands on both sides and tried to pull it out but it barely moved.
"Damn it." he whispered.
The idea it might finally slide out of its perfect hole was still unsuccessful.
"Maybe it's got an antenna or something sticking out of it." Dig suggested.
AM could only nod, he was close to getting it free and each night he had to stop either out of exhaustion or hand cramps from the incessant chipping and brushing at little more than a snails pace. They would make the occasional visit to a nearby CVS for water while subsisting on a diet of granola bars and beef jerky. No showering and the office next door with a scavenged bucket was their bathroom.
Dig suggested taking a night at a hotel, but AM would not be budged from the task at hand. Then early in the morning one day in April it was free, Dig woke up curled up in a ball at the corner of the room. AM spent the whole night slowly chipping away by the time the sun rose it was loose. The sound of dirt and rock falling to the ground woke him up from a heavy sleep.
"I'm getting it!!"
AM felt the granola bar he ate earlier churn in his small stomach, he hadn't eaten much the last two days. Pulling it slowly out of the wall like it had been waiting to be picked up. The box felt heavy so he gingerly put it down kneeling in front of it he took in all the details.
The box was covered with grooves on its metal that was black in color with specks of silver, at its center was what was presumably a button. It was similar looking to the cube but with less depth, but high enough to keep the box from sliding out of the wall.
"Wow," Dig said no longer sleepy as he dropped his Reynolds comforter.
AM felt it's sides and back, there didn't seem to be any other buttons and it didn't appear have any holes for a plug. He stared at the box thinking.
"Are you gonna push it?" Dig asked hesitantly.
"I'm not sure." he said still caught up in the moment of sheer excitement.
“I wonder what it is."
"This thing could be a black box for the craft."
"It is a black box," he said though he understood to what he was referring, he sometimes couldn't resist being a smart ass.
AM sat down in front of the alien box, crossing his legs Buddha like and sitting his pack in between his legs.
"Maybe you should try the button, if that’s what it is."
"I don't know,” AM said but was anxious to do just that. “it could be a weapon. It looks like it just sliced into the wall like a hot knife through butter, I'm not eager too see it turned on."
Dig was still not totally convinced "Do you really think this thing is a bomb that'll go off if you push it?"
Quake was the authority on the technical side of this, AM was an above average electronics user but that was a far cry from Quakes skills. AM scratched his chin, that had five o'clock shadow for the last two months, he had forgotten to shave the brief time he spent home between rips.
"Come on, man. It might be some crazy alien porn." Dig said as if an actual argument.
AM snorted with laughter and gave Dig a half embarrassed grin. If he hadn't laughed maybe he wouldn't have been so suggestible, but he reminded himself later he wanted to push it just as much. With an arched fore finger he placed his fingertip on the protrusion. The metal felt cold to the touch, Dig licked his lips in anticipation as he stood near by. AM felt his heart pound and then skip a beat as he pushed the button.
A blast of green light filled the entire room, a low level hum like the sound of an electric current filled their ears. AM clutched his bag in one hand and began pushing himself off the ground when he saw the button start to swirl like water down a drain. It was too quick though, before AM had gotten off his knees he was engulfed by a wormhole and disappeared.
Qcalc Coordinates 00.9ERR0R-ER.R0R93
Philadelphia, PA 00_ _1992--------
RECALIBRATING-----ERROR
AM felt like he was free falling, but faster and more disorientating than when using the cubes. The immediate sensation he had was a hot stuffy heat on his face, but his back felt slimy and wet. Leaning his head back from the dizzy spell stagnant water found its way into his mouth.
A gagging sound escaped his throat when he tasted the water. He sat up spitting out water and saw a hole above him where the only light seemed to be coming from, it was day time but the room was dark. The room which was empty before now had a wooden desk bloated and warped from the water it sat in, a chair sat in front of it minus its seat, the walls were water stained and crumbling at the top with vines and strings of moss hanging from here and there.
AM stood up and looked around frantically. All the green vegetation, water and heat reminded him of a summer trip he took to Florida as child to see his grandparents. They had visited the Everglades, and what he saw was similar too this, with out the building it might have been equal to it.
He spat out more of the grimy water nearly doubled over with dry heaves before the stink of the water made him stand up straight again, water seeped into his shoes, turning his socks into heavy sponges. He was in the same room, but not, the walls which were still mostly plaster before, were now gone as if never there to begin with. The bricks that had sat under it still looked new, bright even, here they looked dirty and eroded. Foul smelling water that reached his ankles, with patches of green floating at the surface covered the floor.
At the corner of the room sat his back pack upside down in the water it had been closed tight by AM before hand and was dry inside. He dug out the Q pad and was greeted by a blank screen. He pressed the power button and waited, after three seconds alarm and dread filled his stomach as a bright fire engine red font message appeared. The words SYSTEM CRASH filled the screen over and over top to bottom, AM closed his eyes tightly his mind screaming with fear.
Upon opening his eyes though a short message in a dull colored font was on the screen. A sigh of relief escapes him as he read it.
PLEASE WAIT
RECALCULATING POSITION
It wasn't the first time he had seen this message, he would usually see it during electrical storms, but it would also happen during solar storms. During a rip in the 19th century while Haley’s comet came by it happened as well. Meteor showers could even interfere, but most electronics are susceptible to all kinds of interference.
In this case the interference was the sudden appearance of a wormhole sending him somewhere. A loud splash brought him out of his thoughts, he looked around the room but the water was rippling everywhere from his movement making him unable to locate a source.
A loud beep brought his eyes back to the screen, a load bar appeared under the message on the screen and slowly began to fill. AM looked up at the hole again, with strings of moss reaching like green fingers, this hole had a natural round look to it but was too unstable to get through. Constant water flow had eroded the ground and AM was afraid of causing the everything to come down on him.
He took off his hoody and squeezed out as much water as possible and double knotted the sleeves around his waist, AM hastily made his way through the doorway. Moss hung across the top and looked like green fangs, AM ducked the mossy fangs, only a little scared of being caught in those green smelly strings like a puppet. The whole situation was forming in his mind. Something had been altered, that much he was certain but he was too anxious to get above ground to worry about it now. Also it seems he made this rip alone, there was no sign of Dig.
Upon leaving the room he came across a large grayish orange rectangle, leaning drunkenly between a large oak that took up most of the hall way. The oak had grown big enough to push it self through the ceiling above it, a large black mosquito buzzed passed his ear and flew up towards the opening created by the tree.
The gray-orange rectangle was rusted metal. AM with an almost gentle swipe knocked over the rusted hulk. Water splashed up and nearly hit his face as the object collapsed in a heap of jagged rusty innards.
One piece of steel worn and dirty but not rusty sat among it. AM carefully picked it out and felt the letters etched in it, he used the water around him and his shirt to clear the grit and grime so he could read it.
Delaware Filing Cabinets.
Followed by a US patent number following that also etched in was: PROPERTY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. That heavy feeling returned again filling his stomach like a dead weight, the memory of the sweet whispers of that voice...her voice, comes back.
"Forget it." he said sternly, scolding himself for thinking about her.
The terms War Department and Secretary of War had been changed to Defense sometime between the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, AM recalled. He sloshed past the rusted hulk and around the green bearded tree to what was left of the next room. All four of the walls still stood, and had created a large square pond. The entire roof above here was gone, two cypress trees barely six feet high and just a few feet apart had branches that were intertwined like lovers arms creating a lattice like roof keeping most of the sun off the water.
The cypress' stood exactly where the reel to reels had once sat, AM reshouldered his pack as he made his way to where a set of stairs he hoped would still be there. A sudden splash in the corner of the room, startled him enough to cause him to slip. AM looked quickly but continued to the hallway out of the pond that had more cypress trees and large green brown vines hanging over a tiny section of wall still standing.
He looked around again as another splash this time closer wet the back of his neck. He turned to see a large ugly bull frog sitting on the remains of either a radio or space heater on the floor, it looked at him with black eyes as if the sight of AM was slightly interesting. AM cringed when it made a loud croaking sound, he almost covered his ears when it did it again.
He turned to go, but after a few steps he froze when the next croaked stopped with a watery squeal followed by a wet ripping sound. Looking back a desk obstructed his view, a red yellow cloudiness in the water came from behind it.
“Probably just a river rat.” AM said nervously.
He turned, ahead large chunks of concrete rounded by the elements above was carpeted in moss as the ground inclined near where the steps behind the double doors had been. AM made his way up cautiously while his mind went back to the box. He activated it when he pressed the button a wormhole formed and sent him somewhere altered, he hoped that was the case.
Gritting his teeth,he climbed up the decaying remains of a wall that had once housed the stairs leading up to the top floor. The steps were worn away into a crude narrow set of steps, he would have to balance himself with arms out like a circus performer. He tried to climb but slipped off his first try and landed on his rear in the water. He got up rubbing his back and that’s when he saw it.
On what was most definitely once a couch was a rat bigger than a house cat at the end of the room. Its' eyes were black with thick green veins , its front incisors were width of a Popsicle stick but were short and jagged at the end, and looked menacing. AM took deep breathes as he stared at it, with an open mouth.
As a country boy that fished in the Schuylkill river as a child, he had seen plenty of river rats that were close to this size but had a mangy dog look to them, almost pathetic. This creature that sat on a ugly decayed couch from the 1940's wasn't scurrying around busy with its rat duties but instead seemed to be watching him closely. When AM picked up his arm, it eyes darted right to it as if waiting for him to make a move. It didn't look mangy or pathetic it looked intelligent.
Its whiskers had some yellow goo on them, a tongue that was black and red licked its chops. The rat, if that's what it was, reminded him of a movie he saw on MST3K, 'THE KILLER SHREWS' the movie was as bad as they got, with over sized vermin genetically altered by a scientist that kill nearly everyone stuck on an island. AM laughed at the horribleness of the movie, but now felt terror of something so cheesy come to life.
He swung his arms in a warding off gesture, but the rat squeaked indignantly at him. AM leaned over and searched under the water with one hand while keeping his eyes on the gray haired vermin. He didn't find one right away and eventually looked down using both hands to find a rock, after a few seconds he found one the size of a softball that was green and slimy. He rose to throw it but the rat was gone, he gripped it tightly in his wet digits feeling it sliminess coat his palm and wrist as it dripped.
He was afraid but wasn't sure what was scaring him more, this rat or south Philadelphia being reclaimed by swamps. He turned and looked back up. It seemed impossibly high, and the jagged steps were as narrow as a window ledge.
As he stepped back to find a better footing a squeak loud and piercing with an undertone of a growl like a jungle cat followed by a sound of cloth tearing. AM felt his leg being pulled back making him almost fall, the large rat was tearing at his pant leg like a small terrier, but it felt as strong as a pit bull.
“JEEZUS FUUU..” he stammered in shock.
He shook his leg more in panic than an attempt to remove it, but the black-green eyed creature was flung to the other side of the room, and hit the wall with a weak thump. In the panic of his leg swing AM fell backwards into the water, the sweat washed away by the cold smelly standing liquid. Revulsion filled him, making him forget his fear for a second.
“Gah!!” he grunted as he got up on his elbows and saw the ugly mutated vermin watching him again.
It sat there, with a pinkish gray rubbery looking tail that seemed to move like a snake. It's eye's bore directly into him sizing him up. They were the eyes of an animal much higher on the food chain and much more deadly in this universe.
To AM the seconds were minutes long as he stared back, slowly realizing he may not live. He gulped in air rather than inhaled it watching the tail, swish in the water causing little whirlpools being hypnotized by it when it suddenly stopped and twitched and the rat gave another one of its strange growls and charged.
Dread filled him as he tried pushing him self back but the ground was wet and too slippery for a grip. He cringed when he realized he still had the rock, though he was not an athlete like Dig. His head began to pound like a beating heart and hurt to the point he though he would vomit. As the rat made it to the soles of his shoes he threw it with eyes half closed and manged to hit it directly, being so close it would have been hard to miss.
With all of the terrified strength he threw it with, the force made it fly backwards and hit the wall again with a loud thud. It fell straight to the ground like the rock that crushed it's skull. Falling on its side, body twitching like a dog dreaming, a small pool of blood as black as oil surrounded its body.
He got up quickly and stood looking down at it, hoping it wasn't playing possum despite the blood, after a few seconds the twitching stopped. He was completely soaked again and was shivering with fear despite the heat, everything began replaying in his mind causing him to vomit a thick yellow bile. Before he could finish heaving stomach acid another squeak growl this one far but not very filled his ears. In a panic he ran straight for the narrow jagged steps that lead to the world above.
He went up the crumbling jagged steps in three leaps, barely taking time to balance himself before leaping the last foot up to the sod rimmed hole above. Bits of green vegetation and streaks of dirt covered his face and arms as he climbed through the hole too scared to look back. He spat out a few tiny bits of rock that fell into his mouth after pulling himself through, AM stood up and breathed in the outside air. It felt refreshing to his scattered brain, he hadn't been that scared since his first rip.
He looked down into the whole that looked pitch black from the outside, like a gaping green mouth, he couldn't make anything out. The thought of being stuck in such blackness while night was coming made him cry with relief that he was out. AM wondered if it had something to do with alien artifacts he searched. Those murderous intelligent eyes, those green veins were the same color that glowed from the cubes and the box.
After a few sips from a bottle of water and ten minutes of deep controlled breathing to relax his pounding heart. He checked his leg for a bite mark or scratch but was unscathed. His pant leg had taken the worst of it.
AM took in all that was around him, which wasn't much. The clock tower was just a jagged wall that was only two or three feet high, the office buildings that had lined the whole area were gone . A few houses remained but were just shells, nothing but a few walls and tall grass hiding the rubble of the others that had eventually collapsed.
He had come out on the side of the complex facing towards the downtown. The steel poles and barbed wire still remained but were rusted and falling over, the wire fencing that they needed to cut was gone. He walked straight over a large lump where the glass booth once stood and looked back at the Depot. Its few remaining buildings that were not totally eclipsed by tall grass and decay might have to be shelter tonight he thought while watching the sun make its western descent.
He removed the Qpad and eyed the screen. The loading bar was three quarters filled, as the sun began to set. He made his way to one of the houses that still had a roof and stomped down the grass which was only knee high as he came up to the porch and walked in to the house which had no door.
He looked up and didn't see any holes in the ceiling, the floor was wooden and had not rotted too badly and was clear of rubble with a few pieces of furniture. Towards the back of the living room was a set of stairs that went up to the second floor, but when attempting to climb them a loud cracking and groaning sound filled the house and the staircase began swaying like a house of cards on a breezy day making him stop. The livi