Chapter Three: Retribution
Our last century... It was more than hell, it's hard to even describe. We had poked a hornet's nest, and just like the damnable insect, it reminded us of our failure at every opportunity present. If we weren't driven mad by the incessant assessment modules, it was the dreams that got to us...
Our base of operations was little more than a cave, but it provided us with more than enough protection from the elements, and it was also just a short walk away from the shore with multiple areas of interest; A source of fresh water in the form of a river, verdant patches of fruit trees, and an area particularly rich in small game. The luggage that was supplied to us was also fairly useful in its own way. Not only did it contain usable clothing, but some even had things such as multi-tools and camping gear. It may have just been my opinion, but it seemed like this module was holding our hands just a little bit. Although, I am not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth. Additionally, it seemed like Mariana was going to make a full recovery. Having found a sewing kit in one of the bags, I set out on mending her forehead. I didn't much enjoy having to operate on my friend's head, but my hand was steady and I was able to get done before causing too much discomfort. We didn't have any alcohol present, so after boiling the fresh water, I flushed her wound out. I tried my best to ignore the muffled screams she let out, but we had to keep on top of any infection. Lucile had quickly taken to teaching Matthew everything she knew about the sciences and technology, as they appeared to be kindred spirits. She explained to us that the computer on her wrist was a Pip-Boy 3000 mk. IV, which she told us had comparable computing power to the terminals we were all used to. I found it hard to believe, but after letting Matthew tinker with it, he could only affirm her claim. May's wrist was far from healed, but she was just as energetic as ever.
Having long discarded our dresses and skirts, May, Mari, and I worked around our camp in plain trousers and cloth shirts. Even if we ascribed to the pretenses of our past lives, I don't think Damien or Matthew would have made any fuss. Even before our survival instincts, our bond of friendship outweighed any cloying etiquette from that bygone era.
Getting this place set up was quite easy. With our experience in these kinds of modules, it was almost second nature at this point. The cave itself, while being shallow, was fairly defensible if it came down to it so it was an obvious choice. We didn't have much in the way of heavy tools, so a rock wall surrounded the perimeter of our camp. With a fire pit near the entrance and makeshift bedrolls made from thatch and unused clothing, we had a decent set up for the short term.
Just before the morning of our third day on the island, we gathered around the still smoldering fire to prepare for the first of presumably many sorties into the wilderness of the island.
"Alright, our first order of business should be locating the access point for this module." I spoke once all of us had gathered in front of the cave, "We still don't know what's on the rest of this island, and hopefully it is desolate, but I don't want to test our luck. How are we on weapons?"
"We've got a few spears, slings, and knives, but other than that Damien and I weren't able to do much more." Matthew spoke up when given his cue, "What I wouldn't give to have an actual gun..."
"We'll just have to make due." I responded, although I shared his sentiment, "Okay, what about food? In the unfortunate circumstance that we fail, survivability is our next priority."
"We were able to harvest enough fruit and game to last us at least two and half weeks without getting more, but there's still more for us to gain if we are careful." Mariana spoke next, the bags under her eye's conveying how much sleep she had lost recently. I figured that the prospect of escape was weighing on her heavily. Surely, she was having the same doubts I was, "Yer' lucky I'm so good at climbin' trees." May quipped, toothy grin and all.
"What we would do without you is beyond me..." I commented casually, letting a grin touch my face as well as we made sure everything was in order. We almost always convened for debriefs as early as we could; so after fully taking stock and assessing the situation as a whole, the nigh picturesque rays of dawn called our plans into action. If I wasn't focused on getting my unit out of this simulation, I would have most definitely sunk into a placid state, letting the warm beams of sunlight wash away my fears and doubts. Unfortunately, our time was short already so that notion was tabled indefinitely. Still, what I wouldn't give to take a hot shower. Lucile, who had kept to the background of the debrief motioned me over to her rock.
"If I could have a moment, Audrey." She yawned, clearly unaccustomed to life in the simulation, "… In all my years, I never would have thought that I'd actually been able to make any headway into getting you guys out of this simulation."
"I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you all for persevering for so long. Once you're out, I'll introduce you to my son. He's an adult now, but he still calls your unit 'his little brothers and sisters.' I feel I've spent more time working on your unit than I did with him." She grinned bittersweetly. Now it was my turn to be taken off guard. I certainly knew that she must have invested a considerable amount of time on my unit, but to say such things betrayed the stoic outer shell she had adopted since joining us.
"I… Miss Lucile, I'm so sorry." I stuttered, finding no other words to give to her.
"Don't be, just take this chance while you still can. That will be enough."
Traversing the dense jungles of the inner island was no easy task. Most of our group were inner city kids. Only May and Damien had a fighting chance, and even then, they were having a rough go of it. Not even fifteen minutes had passed before my shirt was drenched in sweat, and my companions weren't looking much better. Our plan for today was to get to the highest point of the island, which in our case was a cliff face off the south side of the volcano dominating the largest portion of our island. Figuring the cardinal points wasn't too difficult, thanks to the detail of the simulation we were able to parse it out with the setting sun. Still, that was the easy part.
After what felt like hours, our group finally had a chance to rest atop the cliff edge. Miss Lucile was the worst for wear, but we weren't far behind her either. While we may have had the mental fortitude to push on, nothing replaces actual conditioning. Nonetheless, the vast expanse of island below our feet proved the fruits of our labor. The beach that we landed on was a caped cove shaped like a crescent. The bay itself was shielded by a small archipelago that sliced through the bay at its widest points. The creek that ran adjacent to our cave fell from a steaming collection of pools on the east side of the volcano, which were only visible from this vantage point. I could see what looked like a shallow valley to the west, with another creek running through the natural dip. After discovering another cave slicing through the rock-face of the volcano, we gained a better view of the north and west quadrants of the island. With the sun directly overhead, it was hard to see at first; but upon scanning the north-western tip of the island I spotted a complication.
White plumes of smoke towering into the sky.
"I can't say that I didn't expect this…" Matthew sighed, glaring jadedly at the smoke. In total, I counted six, but that was no real indicator as to how many combatants we might face.
May plopped down next to him, "With our luck, it'll be a buncha kitties and pup dogs… Of death! Each an' every one of em with rows an' rows of teeth."
Leave it to her to try and lighten the mood. While she was pantomiming death jaws with her arms encroaching on Matthew, cacophonous growls left her mouth with a full toothy grin. She couldn't coax a laugh out of Matt, but I did spot a brief smile form. Still, while it wasn't entirely out of the blue, having company was a bigger problem than usual. Unlike any of our previous modules, the island was individual in the fact that we only had our own ingenuity to rely on. Sure, there were a few scenarios where we'd be left to acquire our own weapons, but considering that we only had natural resources to work with made a null point negative.
"Hmmm… I don't make sense though. The commandos wouldn't need fires, and none of our past enemies would fit this scene." Damien mulled, training his eyes on the exceedingly dense jungle between us and the fire-smoke.
"Why is that a problem?" Lucile aired, staying as far away from the ledge as humanly possible, "Surely you weren't intending to fight them with sticks and stones?"
Damien shook his head, "We can't count on the simulation taking it easy on us, Ma'am. Sometimes a known overkill is better than an unknown variable. If anything, we've learned how they operate."
"If anything, that's the first lead we have on our exfil." I pointed to the smoke on the horizon, "It beats wandering around aimlessly."
At this point, Mariana rejoined the group, having finished a map of the observable island on a piece of parchment salvaged from a previously waterlogged notebook. She had a knack for the craft, and she worked quickly.
"It looks like our best course of action would be cutting through the valley, the west side is too rocky to get through safely." She noted, folding the paper and handing it to me.
"Thanks Mari." I gave her a reassuring smile and turned back to the valley, "Well, no time like the present."
The trek back to camp proved to be less of a hassle with the newly forged path to the volcano, but it was still a taxing endeavor. I could hardly remember how long it had been since I had felt the all-encompassing ache of sore muscles. As we approached the cave, my instincts shifted into overdrive with the sudden realization that things were not as they were.
"We were fucking raided!?" Matthew cursed, kicking a rotted stump into dust. I didn't care where he picked up the expletive, because the same thought was coursing through my mind. While it wasn't much a home, something felt inherently wrong about having your things stolen while you were away. With due haste, we all took stock of what was stolen.
"What?" Was Mariana's first reaction. It didn't take long to deduct her cause for confusion. None of our important equipment had been stolen. All the weapons were accounted for, supplies like food and survival gear were spared as well.
"They… Only took the toys?" May frowned, seeming the most perturbed by the occurrence. We had left them aside, not having much use for them.
"This is only getting weirder by the second." I aimlessly scanned our campsite, stifling a laugh boarding on hysteria. It just made no sense at all. It all sent a shiver down my spine, "We can't proceed as planned, things have changed."
"Why? Shouldn't we focus on getting you guys out of here regardless?" Lucile questioned, seeing the situation at face value.
I shook my head, "It took us three, four hours tops, to make the cliff summit. In that time, our company had been able to make it to our base and leave without being detected on our journey back. They either have multiple scouting parties or are exceedingly proficient in navigating the island. Most likely both. We can't continue without addressing the threat of guerrilla tactics or being attacked here again."
The realization dawned on Lucile as we sat in a compromised location with no clue as to when we might be caught unaware once more, "Oh, I see…"
"Should we consider relocating?" Mariana asked, looking to the jungles around us.
Damien sighed, "There's no use, they'll just find us again. We'd spend more energy moving than we would fortifying this location. Besides, there's no guarantee that we'll find another good spot to hole up."
"Geez, what's next? A surprise slumber party?" I quipped, rolling my shoulders to relieve the aches.
"Don't give them any bright ideas Boss." Matt echoes, grabbing a large stick from our stockpile. Using the utility knife, he starts to fashion it into a spike, not letting a moment go to waste. The others quickly found ways to fortify the camp, however I chose not to join them just yet. I needed some time to truly think of a solution for the situation we found ourselves in this time.
First and foremost, our mysterious neighbors. All absurdity aside, their presence only meant trouble. Even if we were on high alert throughout the duration of our stay on the island, their ability to outfox us still left too many holes in our defenses to remain comfortable. We already had a look-out rotation in place, but that obviously went by the wayside during our excursions into the island. The possibility of those kinds of ambushes didn't worry me as much as concentrated raids on the cave. We'd be able to trust our instincts in those cases, but if our look-out was subdued before alerting everyone else our loss would be written before the fight even started.
That didn't even factor in our lack of superior firepower, which at this point was woefully inadequate. The only ranged weapons we had at our disposal were a pair of slings fashioned out of boar leather. If we were going to stand any chance of fighting away the unknown assailants, we'd need as many advantages as we could muster.
My second, and more troublesome priority came in the form of Ms. Lucile's terminal access point. Without any leads to go on whatsoever, our only option was a complete sweep of the island. Which conveniently led into our first problem with a neat little bow. Looking at the map that Mari had sketched, I considered any of the obvious locations, including any dangerous or hard to reach locations. That only left me with the enemy camp, the summit of the volcano, or the depths of the bay. If it was located deeper in the ocean, we'd be out of luck without any serious diving equipment. The odds of our finding that was next to none, suffice it to say. Any other locations fall into the category of long, tedious expeditions into the island.
Overall, I'd surmise that we're totally screwed.
Throughout an afternoon's full of work, our camp more closely resembled an impromptu guerrilla encampment than a cave. With spikes and pitfalls surrounding the outer perimeter, and a more proper looking barricade as our wall, I allowed a little of the unease I was feeling fade. Unfortunately, our work was yet from over. I set Damien on the task of fabricating short bows for each team member, for which Matthew was forced to locate suitable hardwood. May was sent as his accompaniment, both being outfitted with our slings. It smarted to be left alone with only melee weapons for defense, but it had to be done. Mariana was allowed to rest for her look-out shift, and Ms. Lucile and I busied ourselves with attempting to deduct the location of the access point. So far, she agreed with my assumptions, adding the possibility of other cave systems in along the coast of the western part of the island.
Before I had even knew it, nightfall was upon us. With no other choice but to turn in, the group bid Mariana a safe watch and retreated inside the cave to sleep. With any hope, it would be a quiet night and Mariana would wake me at 0300 with a sleepy smile. Although, I've never been that optimistic…
Fuck.
I instantly knew things were off when May roused me instead of Mari. The sunlight streaming into the cave was another sign that something had gone horribly wrong.
"Where is she!?" I immediately yelled, abandoning all sense of grogginess. Never once have I lost a comrade, a friend. The panic that gripped my throat was buried by the bubbling rage that soon followed. May didn't even get a chance to respond before I was up to my feet with a knife in hand. The others were woken by my frantic outburst, and it didn't take long for them to notice the object of by duress. In front of the cave, was the pile of newly minted bows that Damien had crafted the night before. They were barely more than crude, but he did well with what he had. The arrows were essentially sharpened sticks, but they were more than lethal enough for what I had in mind.
It didn't matter who stood in my path, I only had one insular motivation right now. Gathering enough arrows for myself, I started out of the camp only to be stopped by Matthew. He was seething as well, but the look he gave me froze me where I stood. I knew he could understand what I meant to do, and yet he still held me in place.
"Audrey-" I attempted to push my way past him, only to get a vice grip on my shoulders, "Audrey! Stop!"
I looked at him, unaware of the stinging sensation welling in my eyes, "I- Mari…" I clench my eyes shut as tears begin to fall.
No! Matt should understand! We need to save her. We can't just sit around and waste time while she could be dying or tortured for intel. I tried to shake him off, but even in the shape he was before we were kidnapped, he could keep me planted in his grip.
"Please, I need-"
"No, we need to go get her." Matthew cut me off, as I followed his gaze to the cave. Everyone had a bow in hand and seemed to be ready to blaze a warpath. May was practically chomping at the bit, and even Ms. Lucile had a cold look of determination.
I allowed Matthew to lead me back into the camp, drying the wetness on my face before looking up to my team. It was clear that we were all on the same wavelength, even disregarding Matthew's declaration. At least this debrief was going to be short and sweet.
"Alright! We know where they are, and Mari is most likely to be at their main camp. We'll just have to take things as they come. Now move it!" All I received were nods in accent.
As we navigated the jungles to our objective, I couldn't help but kick myself for not seeing this outcome. I should have stayed awake to share her shift. She shouldn't have been alone. I could have-
Matt, almost as if he could sense my distress, put a hand on my arm to pull me back to the task at hand. I wordlessly thanked him and looked at the path ahead. It took a long while to notice, but every so often a small footpath would appear crisscrossing the island. Presumably left by the unknown assailants. Once we had tuned into that, finding a way to their camp was as easy as following a northbound path.
The journey took up most of the morning, and was no better than our first sortie into the jungle. Still, we made good time due to our express purpose for traveling to the north side. Once the feint lines of smoke in the midday sky were obscured by the surrounding tree canopy, I allowed my feelings to sink back down inside to replace them with killing intent. When we were about fifteen meters away from the fringe of the enemy camp, I turned to Ms. Lucile,
"I want you to stay outside of the camp, I'm sure you understand."
She looked like she wanted to retort, but only nodded in turn. Out of all of us, she was the most likely to get injured or loose her life if things were to go awry. Ensuring her safety was among the top of our already growing list of priorities.
"Alright, our plan is to spread out and locate Mari. We'll be spacing to the cardinals for even coverage. Once contact has been made, it's weapons free. Find a way to signal to your location and leave no survivors on the way out. Reconvene at this location." I explained in the huddle. We didn't know what we were dealing with, but that didn't matter any more, "Move out."
I had taken the eastern approach, parting ways with Damien who took the north halfway along the way. Matthew had taken the west and May hand been allocated to the south. Readying myself, I paused for thirty seconds before approaching the camp. Thankfully, the edge of the camp was only about four meters from the tree-line. I was surrounded by a random assortment of tents within moments of debarking from the jungle and without the notice of any enemies. As I moved through the outer edge of the camp, I was given pause by the sound of scuffling to the right of me. I peeked around the canvas of a stout tent and was taken aback by what I saw.
In front of me was a boy not much older than me. He was walking barefoot with tattered plainclothes and it had looked like he hadn't taken a bath in over a year. He was picking languidly at his nose as he lazily patrolled the path that stood before me. With only a moment's hesitation, I pulled my makeshift bow to full draw and popped up in one fluid motion. I knew as soon as I loosed the dart that I would not hit my mark and sprinted to tackle the boy to the ground. With the stick jutting out from his shoulder, I silenced his screams preemptively with a deep thrust of my knife through his trachea. As I stood over him, watching the life fade from his eyes, a pit of guilt formed in my chest. The thought of killing was not new to me, but this just felt wrong. I couldn't shake the feeling that it was one of my friends lying on the ground. Still, I had to move on, so after hiding the body in the tent closest to me I started down the path that the boy was only just patrolling minutes before. My heart was still thrumming in my ears as my unease settled in the quieter recesses of my mind. It didn't matter what reservations I had, we had a goal to achieve. I couldn't let my feelings get in the way.
Surprisingly, the camp was very loosely guarded. Considering the fact that they just recently abducted our teammate, the lack of presence was disconcerting. It was only until I heard the raucous laughter, banging of sticks on rocks, and off tune singing that I counted my blessings. If everyone was located at this congregation, our chances of finding Mariana rose marginally. Unless of course, she was the main attraction of this celebration. I didn't want to think about that, so I just continued my search.
After searching for ten tense minutes, I was drawn to a terse argument.
"— believe you, you really are stupid."
Peeking around the corner, I find two kids standing in front of a wooden cage. A portly boy and an even scrappier girl were nose to nose, both red in the face.
"Shuddup, I'm not stupid!" The portly boy shoves his fellow guard.
"Whadda ya mean you're not stupid!? You're tryin' to slink off and fox some food from the party. You know they're gonna kick your ass again. How's that not stupid fatass?" The girl shoves back. In the brief moment that they separate, I struggle to not breath out a sigh of relief. Inside the cage was Mari, and other than a few scrapes and bruises it seemed like she was unharmed.
The two kid guards were still quarreling when a tall teen marched into the clearing. His blonde hair was shaggy and unkempt, but the definition in his face and sizable muscles showed that he had the lion's share of the groups food.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing!?" He demanded, as the pair stared at him dumbfounded. By now they were on the ground throwing punches and pulling hair, "You're supposed to be watching the prisoner!"
"But—"
"Shut your mouth. If the two of you can't follow orders I'll fucking drown both of you!" He berated them, kicking both of their heads to the side with a hard boot. The girl began to bleed from her temple, which had knocked out the two bottom front teeth of pudgy. They began to bawl as the teen stormed back to the celebration.
"I fucking hate Quincy! Ever since he got turned into a lieutenant, he's done nothing but make our lives hard." Scrappy whined, kicking pudgy away from her, "This is all your fault."
"Stop hitting me!" Pudgy started to cry harder. As the pair stood up, wiping their tears I chose to go into action. I had used their punishment as a chance to close the distance while remaining hidden. I was only about three meters from the cage now.
"Jus' shuddup and watch for bad gu—s" Scrappy began to gurgle as a dart ran through her jugular and flooded her trachea with blood. I made sure my aim was true this time. Pudgy ran white, blowing chunks as Scrappy coughed blood onto his face. Closing the distance in no time, I had my stone knife buried in his orbital. Pulling it out with a squelch, I wiped the blood on my trousers and started to cut the ropes keeping Mari locked in the cage.
"Audrey?" Mari looked up from the ground, showing a knot on her crown and a shiner beginning to swell over her eye.
"It's alright Mari, we're here." I said through gritted teeth, trying to reassure her. I had a sinking suspicion that she was beating her self up over this.
"This still doesn't make sense," She said quietly, clambering to her feet. It didn't seem easy with her arms bound, but she was up on her feet as the last rope had been cut, "They've never acted like… real people."
I could only nod and motion her over to cut her restraints. If the last century of training and assessment modules were "training," it seemed like these ones were meant to test our mental fortitude to its limits.
"I mean, why do they need to be so… real?" Mariana reiterated, still struggling to process the situation.
"To see if we can kill real people…"
With Mariana free, and mostly stable, I handed her a spare knife. I was relieved to have found her, due to the fact that we had made the difficult choice of choosing who to carry hers. She took it thankfully, coming to the same realization that I had before. It's them or us, no hard feelings right?
After allowing myself to actually breath a sigh of relief, I took this moment of peace to search for anything that could be used to signal the others. My solution came in the form of a dingy pack of cigarettes and a half filled matchbook. It wasn't the most elegant of plans, but thanks to someone's miraculous bad habit I could wreak havoc. There was still that nagging feeling that I was being steered into a decision, however we needed to push on. Taking the sheet off of the bedding inside the tent, I piled up the dried fronds and lit the whole matchbook before throwing it in alongside the sheet. Within a minute, the tent was up in flames and the fire was already starting to encroach on it's neighboring tents.
"Come on Mari, it's time to go," I ordered, turning to vacate the area, "Shit…"
In front of us was the lieutenant Quincy. In his hands was a machete, and though it was rusted I had no intentions of tasting its bite, "I knew those asshats couldn't do anything right."
In a moment he was upon me, kicking though my crossed guard with his hard boot. Instantly, I knew he had fractured a few ribs. I was thrown to the ground a few feet away from the blaze that was now roaring. As he marched towards me with his blade stretched to the sky, Mariana nearly jumped onto his back and plunged her knife into his shoulder. He grunted in pain, his rage boiling over as he swatted to grab her. She had him firmly in a back-mount grapple, but it only took him yanking her by the hair and throwing her over his shoulder to detach himself from her grasp.
Gritting my teeth, I exploded from the ground. With his lead leg still planted, I rammed into his knee with as much force as I could muster. I was angled on his flank, so as I dove through his knee I could hear an audible snap over the noise of the blaring fires. His anguished cries reverberated throughout the clearing as he clutched what was probably a torn MCL.
"F-Fucking bitch!" Quincy growled, his words dripping with venom. He had the wherewithal to raise his blade once more and lunge at me with his machete. Barely having any time to react I rolled to the right, I may have lost a few inches of hair but I still had my face. By now, Mariana was back on top of him. This time however, she didn't waste any time and shoved her blade as deeply as she could through the base of his neck. With a spasm, his extremities went limp as he stared at me with terrified eyes.
Oh, don't do that…
"T-Thanks Mari…" I managed to croak as I clambered up off the ground, "Let's get the hell out of here."
With the din of chaos safely behind us, Mari and I made headway to the rendezvous. At this point, the inferno had absorbed most of the camp. Finding Miss Lucile was my first priority, among just extricating in general. Put bluntly, I could trust the others to cover each other. I didn't want all the effort she had put into us to be wasted.
I didn't have time to worry, as I could see her head peeking out to peer at us as we sprinted back to the tree-line.
"Oh! Thank goodness!" Lucile exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief, "I've seen you all in many different scenarios, but actually waiting on the wayside…"
"Don't worry about it ma'am, it takes more than this to break us down." I responded, trying a grin to keep the mood light. Despite that, I felt the sickly pit in my stomach threaten to make an appearance. Mari didn't look much better, but the dour feelings were quickly snuffed upon hearing the footfalls of our friends.
Good, they were able to make out out.
Relief was replaced with panic as I spotted the mob of wild children behind Matt, Damien, and May.
"Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit—" Matthew was almost blaring as he led the others to the rendezvous with reckless abandon. Without taking time to warn, I took Miss Lucile's arm and pulled her into a sprint. I could trust that my companions would be right behind me. Before I knew it we were all bounding through the thickest part of the jungle, with the only things permeating my thoughts being the path to safety and the endless thrumming of my heartbeat in my ears.
"In there!" I could hear Mari shout at my flank. Following her outstretched hand, I notice a slight cave within the cliff face of the volcano. Trusting her, I practically dove through the tunnel entrance. Almost immediately, the sounds of the wild faded and the loamy scents were replaced with an acrid sulfurous stench. Regardless, we pressed farther into the cave system.
"They took me through here last time, seems like one of the secrets to their mobility." Mari noted, having assumed the position of rear guard to watch our flank.
"Well, hopefully they don't realize right away." Damien sighed as he surveyed the tunnel, "Can't say for sure, but I think the bulk of their forces were chasing us."
Continuing deeper into the volcano, the temperature rose a considerable degree before we were blasted with a gust of air that felt like sticking your face into an open oven. Turning a corner, we found ourselves on the edge of a sheer outcrop that snaked through the stone surrounding a deep ravine. Understandably, at the pit of said ravine, was an ungodly amount of magma.
"Damn…" Matthew muttered, peering into the smoldering abyss of molten rock.
"Wait, do you see that?" Lucile paused, pointing down to a natural ridge spanning the northernmost third of the volcano. Not only was it incredibly unnatural, it also seemed to be sheltering another tunnel. Unless our current path had any forks that could allow a more gradual descent, we would be soloing the inside of an active volcano. One look to Mariana confirmed my suspicions
Great.
Left with the choice between taking the time to investigate the anomaly or getting my group to safety, the choice was obvious.
"We'll have to return late—"
"No, if I can get you children out of here it has to be now." Lucile shakes her head with fierce determination. If it wasn't entirely stupid, I would have admired the overseer for it.
"There's no guarantee that we can make it down there, and May wouldn't be able to safely traverse—"
Once again I was interrupted, however, this time it was Matthew, "Not everyone needs to go down. Lucile can give me her PipBoy and I can make the trip. The rest of you can set up an ambush to keep the wild ones busy."
I bit my lip, considering what it would mean if this turned out to be the real deal. The uncomfortable heat didn't make things much better, but I couldn't find much more to flaw with his plan than running to hide. Either way, we'd risk a large scale battle while being severely outnumbered. There was merit to this treacherous terrain. We could turn the bottleneck to our favor.
"Alright, but be careful." I conceded, sighing in exasperation. Matthew only put a hand on my shoulder a nodded with a warm smile. Finding suitable outcrops and slight walls was simple enough, and Matthew was already partway down the inner face once everyone was in position. Miss Lucile was situated behind me, insisting to be close enough to keep an eye on Matthew. As much as I tried to persuade her to the rear of the group, I had a feeling that she wouldn't buckle. I held my makeshift bow at the ready, watching as Damien and Mariana did the same.
The first point of contact was an older boy, probably a forward scout, who decided to take the shortcut. Damien was the first to act, loosing a bolt that caught the boy in the calf. His aim must to have been to trip the scout, catching him mid stride as he ran. The force of the stick caused the scout to tumble, sending him down off the edge of the path. Ignoring his screams wasn't easy, but I kept my eyes forward and waited for the inevitable.
The inevitable came in the form of a second scout, probably noticing the former's disappearance. We heard him first, as he let out a piercing whistle, which echoed over the rumble of the magma. A second later, a second, much more muffled whistle could be heard.
"The area is hot now, get ready!" I yelled to my companions as the second scout decided to rush our position. He caught a bolt to the shoulder, before taking another to the stomach. He slumped to the side, barreling into the rock wall with his face. We didn't have time to relax, as raucous shouting and swearing started to fill the tunnel. Once the first few started to storm out of the tunnel, the onslaught began. While the bolts lacked stopping power, it didn't matter much when people began to panic, trip, and trample. Including the few lucky shots, and even fewer well placed, those still on their feet had to begin kicking and pushing bodies into the ravine. Notably, they were indiscriminate between the living and the incapacitated.
Unfortunately, our ammunition quickly dwindled to nothing. Damien first, then Mariana, then myself. May was busy throwing spears, but even she was down to her last, "Move to close combat!" I roared.
Taking just a moment to allow the wild children to clear a path to the widest part of the path, we bounded into action. The first opponent I ran into found the blade of my knife skating across his throat as I used my momentum to hip toss another to the ground. Following through with the strike, I buried my blade into their chest. Looking to the right, I could see Mariana sprinting towards me. Tensing up, I allowed her to roll over my back and watched her attack the knee and throat of another pair of opponents. I sprung up and kicked the kid with a now severed hamstring over the edge of the cliff. Damien was now at my back as we were circled by a group of teenagers. Keeping my head on a swivel, I was able to finish off a teen that Damien had thrown to the ground using the momentum of his own charge. Before I could return to an upright position, I could feel the crushing presence of a tackle pushing me away from Mari and Damien. I was suddenly centimeters from falling to a horrible, fiery death as the top half of my torso was dangling precariously over the magma pit. The teenagers grip closed on my windpipe as I clawed at his face. What oxygen I could manage, singed the every part of the way down before his grip tightened too much for me to breath. I could see the edges of my vision go fuzzy before I was showered in a torrent of blood. The teen went limp as the pointed edge of a spear jutted from his mouth. May kicked him out of the way before offering me her arm to stand up.
"T-Thanks…" I gasped, swallowing as much air as I could before rushing back into the thick of things. May only nodded before impaling another assailant through the abdomen. I quickly found my knife again and had to sidestep a makeshift machete. Ducking behind the machete wielder, I plunged my blade into her spine and left her to move on to my next opponent.
Considering the disparity between our numbers, we were doing veritably very well. It was like fighting off a swarm of feral dogs rather than a group of trained killers. While the others fended off a group of attackers, I took just the briefest moments to check on Matthew. My hopes soared as I watched him grab the edge of the ridge and swing into the tunnel.
Turning my attention back to the fight, I noticed the familiar glint something very familiar. Blanching, I ducked low and charged the largest teenager I had seen on the island so far. Just as my knife made contact with his chest, I heard the near deafening sound of a gunshot and felt the round zip past my ear. Ignoring the ringing that came with the weapon's discharge, I took my blade to the throat of the large teenager. Strangely enough, he was easier to down than the lieutenant Quincy. Almost as if he didn't know how to fight back.
Regardless, I took his revolver and turned it down the tunnel. It took little time at all to finish the last few teens, barring any that had the wherewithal to flee before the slaughter. I allowed a small smile to rise before turning and having it wiped away. Laying in Mariana's arms, Miss Lucile was pale and bleeding from a gunshot to her hip. It must have hit the femoral based on how much blood she had lost. May was busy packing the wound, but it didn't look pretty.
"No! God damnit! No!" May was glowering, sweat beading on her brow. I sprinted down the body littered path to rejoin them, feeling a deep pang of guilt that far outweighed my elation from making it through another battle. As I drew near, I could hear Miss Lucile speaking hoarsely,
"I'm so sorry… I should have gotten out of the way." She said morosely, "Please do not blame yourselves for my blunder, but know that help may not come again. For that, I must apologize even more profusely."
I could care less if anyone would come and save us, finding the prospect of loosing the one person who actually did much more daunting.
"You can't say that Miss Lucile… You can't— WE WERE THIS CLOSE!" I refuted, collapsing to my knees and letting my frustration get the better of me. Then, just as she had appeared in the simulation, her image began to flicker away before leaving Mariana's arms to hold nothing.
With how long the overseer had been in the sim unit, a sizable group of scientists, engineers, and various other faculty had amassed around the display unit. Among them was Cecil, fretting and hemming incessantly. They watched as the Liberty module overcame the daunting odds of liberating their youngest member in what could only be categorized as a hoard of mongrels. They too felt the uneasy grip of reality hit them as they watched countless adolescents fall to the makeshift weapons of the Liberty unit. Their discomfort was alleviated once A3-88GO4 had finally been able to release her companion.
A few onlookers were pushed to excuse themselves once the battle in the volcano had commenced, and could be heard emptying their stomachs in various waste bins outside the lab. Cecil was the first to notice the Overseer Lucile had been shot, and he was the first to her pod. As her avatar faded from the display screen, her pod opened with a hiss and the older woman was convulsing within the recessed bed inside the unit. Her vitals were similar to patients who suffered severe traumatic brain injuries. Needless to say, she was DOA.
"No no no no!" Cecil practically growled, knowing his worst fears had been realized. The diminutive man fell into a blind rage, throwing equipment and office supplies around the lab before shepherding every other person out of the lab in a calm fury. He had just assumed the role of Overseer, and thus no one could mount an argument to his order.
"I knew— I FUCKING KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN LUCILE!" He returned to his cacophonous shouting, banging on the pod that housed the now dead Overseer, "but noo, we had to continue our efforts, continue risking valuable resources and manpower. I hope it was all worth it!"
Cecil turned on A3-88GO4's pod, his features set in a deep scowl, "Mark my words girl, you will regret not dying in these damnable simulations. Mark my words…"
The rest of our stay on the island was abysmal. While we had no combatants to deal with, the week and half that we were forced to stay in what essentially was Miss Lucile's graveyard left all of us feeling empty and overwhelmed.
Matt seemed to had taken her loss the hardest. I know that he was probably thinking that if he was just a little bit quicker in hacking into the access portal, we'd all be enjoying life together in Lucile's vault. It was hard to even get him to eat, and when he did he retreated to his tent to be alone. Once we had faded from the scene like any other scenario, I had no idea on what to do. Even listening in on life outside of my pod couldn't rouse me from my funk. However, I was forceably drawn out when I overheard what was actually being spoken.
Shades of umber and blood red clashed with pure, tonally pleasing silver;
"You cannot do this Cecil! I don't give a shit if you're the Overseer, I will not allow it!" A strong pang of silver.
"Isaac, I know we've just lost your mother… Shouldn't that be all the more reason—" Umber and Red responded, which I could now associate with the new Overseer, Cecil.
"Keep my mother's name out of your mouth you rat bastard."Isaac retorted, his anger tinging the silver tone.
"Now listen here boy," Cecil warned Lucile's son sternly, "My word is final, if you cannot accept that I will have you forcibly detained."
"I'd like to see you try…" Isaac responded, before I heard his footsteps fade for a moment. They were interrupted briefly by the sounds of a scuffle and then a dull thunk shortly thereafter.
"Damn it all… Should have just kept your mouth shut punk. Don't need you wasting all my work getting this hapless project to 'save the kids' grounded…"
What the fuck!?
The last ninety-three years of simulation training were a blur more than anything. Still, I could recollect and understand each scenario with unnatural clarity. More importantly, and more-so out of my control was the disaster that occurred outside the sim during a decade long span after Miss Lucile's death. From the bits and pieces that we caught between scenarios, Cecil had gone on a warpath to solidify his control. He had gathered all of the dissidents he had cultivated into a militant faction of the vault and challenged those who still supported Theodore's vision. Isaac's wife had taken the pole position of the resistance, and managed to garner a vastly superior support base by using her natural charisma and the fact that Cecil had actually murdered Isaac in cold blood only days after his mother had passed.
It was disheartening to hear gunshots outside of the sims, but once all the dust had cleared I heard the calming voice of Isaac's wife for the first time.
"Hello children, you do not know me but I was married to Overseer Lucile's son. My name is Michelle. I apologize that we will not meet face to face, and that I also bring grievous news…" Her melodious tones rang out hues of emerald and notes of silver, "Unfortunately, during the insurgency that Cecil had incited, many of our best scientists were caught in the crossfire. Frankly, we do not have the specialized knowledge to re-attempt another infiltration of the simulation unit."
I was taken aback by how sincerely morose her sentiment was. Lives were lost, and for what? Now they physically could not change our fates, as much as they wished they could.
"I'm sure you understand more than I, but due to Overseer Lucile's attempt, the VI controlling your simulations has made the encryptions nearly impossible to even approach. Our only hope is that we can nurture more apt minds to free your fellows, but I cannot say for sure that we could succeed in a timely enough manner. Lord knows you've spent too much time—"
Michelle was interrupted by the minuscule footfalls of what seemed like a toddler.
"Oh! Mama!"
"Jansen, mommy was talking to the sleeping kids. It's very rude to interrupt." She scolded the toddler lightly. Even with her sweet motherly tone, I could feel the tinge of sadness trail off of her words.
"Help?" Young Jansen quipped, and started to pat what seemed to be my simulation pod.
"… I'm sorry young ones, it seems like our time together is over for the time be—"
Before she could finish her sentence, I was whisked into another scenario.
The next time I heard Michelle's voice, many years had passed.
"It seems like I cannot do much right anymore…" She said, speaking softly to what I could only assume was me alone, "Cecil's claws had sunk deeper into our community than I had initially thought. Many are worried that another incident will occur if we continue to press our luck with your modules."
I wanted to reassure her, to tell her that we had survived hell time and time again. That we could persevere.
"Regardless of the fact that we couldn't do anything anyways… Though, some are worried about the possibility that our interference could result in the loss of your lives. I suppose I could accept that argument. Many are still lobbying for a strictly hands off approach. I'm afraid I cannot prevent things from slipping back to the original plan. I all I can ask you is to prepare for the worst, and hope.. or..he…..st.
As she spoke the word hope, the strange, but familiar buzz returned in full force. I had almost forgotten the sensation entirely, but once it returned I didn't notice it's absence until the whole ordeal was already over…
Strangely enough, once the next scenario had ended the buzzing bled into a dreamlike state. Over time, this became commonplace, taking up more time than our scenarios it seemed. The dreams ranged from benign, to downright nightmarish. What's more, we had no control as to what was projected into our head spaces. Just for once, I wished for the comfort of nothingness but even that was drowned out by the dream states.
Outside of our insular worlds, the climate of the lab shifted from warm to distant. In the eighty years it took for us to surface, Theodore's plan had died quietly, having been overwritten by the ghost of Lucile and her son Isaac. If I could sum it up completely, the situation felt desolately hopeless.
The first thing I noticed about today, was that it actually felt like a today. Pins and needles were assaulting my senses, and I could barely make out the hazy existence of light through my eyelids. Unfortunately, I felt a hot pressure enter my arm before existence began to fade altogether once more.
…
…
…
The next time I "awoke," I could feel muted pains all across my body. I barely could compute the feelings that were once again flooding my consciousness, so I chose sleep instead of wakefulness. It seemed like the better option at the time.
…
…
…
I was unsure about when I next woke up, but all I knew was that I no longer felt the pain that briefly permeated most of my body. I tried sitting up, but found that my body would not respond. I could, however, hear the bustle of activity around me. I started to cough as I felt what I knew as an endotracheal tube obstructing my airway.
"Subject A3-88GO4 is regaining consciousness doctor. Beginning extubation and neural exam."
My eyelids were forced open as I felt the tube removed from my throat. Bright light obscured my vision before I was helped to a sitting position in my pod. Initially I couldn't feel much, but as I regained my bearings I found that I could gradually feel my body naturally. While that was all well and good, the sudden pang of vertigo hitting like a Corvega at full speed was not. It took everything in me not to vomit as the doctors around me stabilized my body while I groaned and swayed. Once I gained the gumption to open my eyes, I could see a young woman in a white lab coat waiting patiently at my side.
"State your name." She prodded, all business.
"…Wha—?" I mumbled.
"State, your, name." She repeated, articulating each word.
"Au- Audrey Moore…" I managed after a few moments.
"Your unit members?" She continued.
"May, Damien, Matthew, Mariana." I responded, able to avoid stuttering this time.
"Good, now can you tell me the sum of ten and twenty-one?" She resumed her line of questions.
"Thirty-one." I answered, taking the time to look around me. I could see the familiar faces of my group, which sent a surge of excitement throughout my nervous system.
"Last question, what is your mission?" The lady doctor asked, a plain look on her face.
"To rebuild the American dream… By any means necessary." I responded without thinking. The doctor looked saddened for a moment before nodding and making notes on her clipboard.
Excuse me… What!?
I couldn't even wrap my head around my matter of fact response before the doctor continued to examine me, pressing electrical probes into various parts of my chest, neck, arms, and legs. I took note that they had the decency to cover me with a hospital gown before I was conscious.
At the touch of an electrical probe in the back of my neck, I could feel and more importantly see a surge of red electricity zoom through my extremities. It took longer to notice than I'd like to admit that within my sight-line was a heads-up-display. Each of my group members was highlighted in a faint haze of green before my vision normalized and reverted to a less pronounced display that had the bare minimum of information.
"Enhancements reading green. Commencing motor function test." The doctor wrote down her observations and had her assistants move me to a sitting position. As soon as I was upright, fireworks exploded behind my eyes and nausea wracked my body before the pain forced me to empty the absolutely meager contents of my stomach over the side of the pod. Still, the doctor urged me to stand. Against my better judgment, I complied and found my balance return to be well before I expected it to.
"Walk please." The doctor prompted, removing her hands that supported my shoulders. With a start, I stumbled and lost my footing. The medical assistants moved to help me up, and I was once again on my feet. When they released me this time, I was able to maintain my balance and start to take tentative steps. It was at this moment that I noticed a break in the monotonous gray and machinery. Staring intently at my group was a pair of brilliant green eyes under a shock of unkempt tawny brown hair. He was peering from an open doorway to what I assumed was the lab that housed our unit. At first glance the boy seemed about two or three years older than me, albeit biologically. I didn't want to get into the moral quandaries in the difference between our mental ages.
"Good, you can rest here." The doctor smiled lightly and gestured to a chair next to my pod. Sitting down, I shivered as the cold metal sent icy sensations up and down my back. I look up to see an assistant approaching with an IV needle connected to an amber colored solution, "Don't worry, this is just to get some electrolytes and nutrients in you. Won't be more than a pinch." He said, gently grabbing my arm.
I've been shot, stabbed, and battered. Trust me, I'll be okay sir. I think benignly, only to be caught with a vivid flash of memories. I harbored no ill will to Theodore, given that he had been dead for nearly two centuries already, but the thought of my abduction still causes me to jerk reflexively. Not surprisingly, the assistant's gentle grip gains just enough firmness to insert the needle with practiced ease.
"Sheesh, you're really good at that." I comment, realizing I had been thinking out loud and flushing for just a moment.
"Don't sound so surprised," The assistant feigns mock offense before giving a short chuckle, "It all comes with practice kid. I'm sure you're leagues better at many things than I am." He offers me one more smile, though I can see a bit of sadness hiding behind his eyes. I appreciated his self-control in not offering me his pity. After bidding me farewell, he moves on to help my friends. Having not much else to do, I found the wallflower that decided to vest his interest in us. By now, he was well within the lab now. He was shockingly good at skirting around the adults. He was peeking out from behind a server rack now, and once again his eyes rested on me. I shot him a questioning look, only for him to duck away again.
Maybe it was just the grogginess, or more likely the absurdity of the situation hitting me again, but I found his actions grating on my nerves. I couldn't hold it against this boy, but the last thing I wanted to do right now was play peek-a-boo. More than anything, I just wanted to sleep in a bed despite having been asleep for an ungodly period of time. Alas reality is often cruel, case in point;
"Er…What's your name?" The boy asked in a whisper, having slipped even closer. I suppose our situation merited an appropriate degree of interest, especially to a kid like him.
"Audrey. What about you?" I respond, watching his features light up.
"Oh, I'm Alexander, but you can just call me Alex."
"So what are you doing here Alex?" I venture to ask, knowing that ours was a clandestine operation. Though, Alexander was a resident of wherever in the world we were right now, so there wasn't much damage he could do if at all.
"Well, the last group was released before I was born… I just wanted to see what you pre-war kids were like." Alexander grinned, his earnest response taking me by surprise.
"I wouldn't imagine we're much more different than you are." I frowned slightly, before realizing the inaccuracy of what I said.
"Unlikely. I haven't been frozen for a long time, at least I don't think I —" He was interrupted by an older gentleman that struck me to be very similar to Theodore.
"Alexander! What are you doing in the lab? You know better." He sternly reprimands the diminutive infiltrator, "Come here child."
Alexander obeys his order, and slinks to the flank of the older man. Who levels his gaze on me, giving me a decidedly warm look, "Hello Audrey, welcome to Vault 009. I am the current Overseer, my name is Ulysses."
"So, you're… Miss Michelle's grandson?"
"And Lucile's great-grandson, and so on." Ulysses responded in affirmation. Frankly, I was just glad that the position had stayed inside the family.
"I see you've already met my son Alexander. I do hope he wasn't bothering you too much." The Overseer states pointedly at his son, to which I shake my head.
"No… It's nice to know that it's not just us down here." I look to my friends, and then to Alexander before finally resting my gaze back onto Ulysses.
"I see… Nevertheless, we will leave you to recuperate in the medical wing for forty-eight hours and then I will explain your situation in greater clarity with the rest of your unit." Ulysses straightened, suddenly injecting an authoritative tone. He gestures Alex along, before dismissing himself as well.
Once they were gone, I was once again blindsided. This time however, it was by a flurry of fiery redness and a tangle of arms.
"OHMYGOSH! Boss! I'm so happy to see you're okay too!" May almost cheers, assaulting me with a soul-melting hug. My only question in the right now was how did this girl cultivate so much energy!? I stole a glance at my other companions and found them recovering from similar treatments.
"Of course I'm okay May, why wouldn't I be?" I shot back, before growing serious, "And I thought I told you to stop calling me that…" Unfortunately, I couldn't keep myself from gigging after watching her eyes widen momentarily.
I had to thank god that May was with us. I was truly gracious of the fact that she could turn the absurd to normalcy. That she could anchor my anxiety and bring out joy in this overwhelming situation. Seeming to sense my mood, the rest of our group gradually makes their way to my corner of the lab. I rose to greet them, unable to control the wide smile that crossed my face. Joy seemed to be contagious, as everyone seemed to share these high spirits.
"I can't believe it… We made it…" Mariana said, giddy elation permeating her sweet cadence.
"Yes… We made it."