Author's Notes: Hello everyone and thanks for reading my story. If I could just ask a few favors of my readers: please review each chapter as opposed to the whole story. This will help me in the long run because I will know what to work on specifically rather than over a broad subject. This should be, if I do it correctly, the chapter that sets up the rest of the chapters. Hope that everyone enjoys and, not to sound too needy, please review!
Chapter 4
With the exception of a few candles that were scattered over the room, the private barracks that housed Sgt. Wilkers was completely dark. The idea of the candlelight had been to be romantic for Dr. Jones, but the outcome was eerie.
The unlikely couple was spooning nude in the bed that was obviously built to accommodate two people. A large grin wrapped around his face as he laid gentle kisses on her shoulders and the back of her neck. She, unlike him, wore no expression. Her beautiful eyes stared off into a space as if she were seeing something that no one else could witness. Like she had her own private world and it was her best-kept secret. The kisses continued for a few more minutes before she rolled over under the soft, thin sheets.
The bed itself was large and looked like it should have been in a nice house as opposed to a horrible dark and dreary cavern. Dr. Jones' best guess was that he'd brought it with him from home, as did the rest of the decor that filled the rather large room. There were four trophy cases set up in the room with spotlights that shown down on the frozen gold men. The lights were usually an excellent source of light, but at the moment they were turned off.
Due to the turn that she pulled in the bed, Jones was facing Sgt. Wilkers. He wore the overly large, smug grin that he usually had, but her face was a mask that hid all emotion and thought. He stared into her mysterious eyes and dismissed it instantly. Always quick to write off things that he didn't understand, he found himself staring at those eyes more than once and deciding to just smile.
"I don't like the newcomers", she finally broke the silence. "It isn't good that they are here and they will only screw this whole operation up."
His became puzzled in one quick sweep and then it was replace by false bravado. "I have them under control. You really don't have to worry about them." He leaned in for a kiss in an attempt to make her feel safer.
Her hand coming up in between their mouths interrupted the kiss. With is eyes closed, Wilkers planted his lips on her hand with a kiss that would have been overzealous and too rough. Eyes opened in surprise, he leaned back to hear what more she had to add. It was obvious to him that this was one of the many moments that the romance would end if he didn't stay tuned to every single word that she spoke.
"Kenneth is a strong one and will pull you away from control if he gets a chance," she said, "and you can't let him do that. Ana seems too intelligent and will soon side with Dr. Moran. Terry and Nicole are too loyal to Kenneth and Ana. If you don't put a stop to them, we will all be destroyed and then there will be no hope for us." She concluded with a little smirk that showed that she was done with her debate. The arrogance that showed on her face meant that she knew Wilkers would be more than willing to follow her every whim.
All was said with a nod of Wilkers' head. The nod symbolized that everything would be taken care of and the newcomers would be no more A.S.A.P. He looked over to a small pile of cloths on the floor and frowned.
"I don't want to do anything right now. Can't we just fool around some more, and then I promise I will get right on it."
"I suppose that the corral will still be there in thirty minutes or so", she said it with a cocky smirk that was wasted on Wilkers. He was already set to a one-track mind. He hand started to trail down her body and he licked his lips a few times. She just lay there, letting him do whatever he wanted.
Wilson and Phil, the muscle of the military group, were standing outside the metal walls of the corral. They were talking back and forth, the usual small talk that they'd done for years. Wilson was laughing and slapping his leg when Scott came into their view. He was late, as usual, and they were, once again, angry him.
Scott forced a dopey smile that he'd perfected. He'd learned a long time before he joined the military that if you were too small to be intimidating you could always act stupid. People will underestimate you greatly if you just stand there and smile. A world full of undead monsters wouldn't change that.
"Damn it kid, where the hell have you been?" Wilson asked. He was always very anxious to get to work the corral. It became more than obvious that he harbored a deep hatred of the monsters, but it was a mystery as to why.
"Listen rookie, from now on just try to be here on time", Phil said in a much more understanding tone. He'd been the closet thing to a friend that Scott had made since starting a life in the silo.
"Will do", the smile never altered. Scott was fairly sure that Phil could look past the smile and know what it was, but as far as he knew, he was the only one. "So what's on the menu today?"
"Fuckin' Frankenstein wants two new samples. I swear to God that I'm gonna fuckin' lock him in this damn thing the next time he 'ask' us to come out here and risk our asses to get his fuckin' samples." Wilson had decided that he hated Dr. Moran from the first time that he announced his plan to train the reanimated creatures.
"Oh, you know you love working the corral", Phil said it with no fear in his voice. Scott's eyes went from the double reinforced, steel doors and walls of the corral to Phil and Wilson. He'd have never had enough courage to say that to a man twice his size.
Wilson just looked at Phil, his best friend in the silo, and let it go. He looked up at the steel doors and a slight smile came to his face followed by a look in his eyes that everyone had seen at least once since they'd worked with Wilson. A darkness circled around his pupils and the rings under his eyes seemed to ease up just a bit. His mouth started to water and he always blinked a few times to take the tears of joy from his eyes. His breathing got just a little too heavy and his eyes looked way too anxious.
"What is the corral?" Ana's voice startled the men. Her lovely voice drifted over to them like honey, but it was still as unnerving as a bee sting. "Jumpy?" She said it with amusement heavy in her voice.
"When you get used to hearing only six voices every day, a new one can scare the shit out of you", Phil said with a smile. He looked at Ana with caring eyes but she wouldn't return the look. She did her best to keep her eyes on any of the other two men because they didn't remind her of Michael; Phil did.
"That's understandable", she said.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" As he said it he realized that the rest of her group was following behind her. Kenneth led the couple with his shotgun in his hand, and Terry and Nicole were holding each other for warmth in more than one way.
"We want to know what this place is. If we are going to be forced to make a home of it then we have to know what is going on, right?" She made it a question.
"All right, but stay the fuck out of the way. I'd hate for one of you to get hurt or worse because you got too curious." Wilson seemed to wear his emotions on his sleeve.
"Preparing to open the corral's door. Safety gear and restraints ready?" Phil said as he climbed a ladder that led up the steal wall.
The wall stretched over to block off an entire corridor of natural cave. There was a four feet gap from the top of the artificial wall and the top of the cave that let everyone know that there was something behind it. The ladder was bolted to the wall and ran parallel to the doors. The ladder stretched all the way up to the top of the twenty-foot wall and appeared to go up and over to the other side. At the top of the ladder there was a crack that was attached to a chain that was attached to the door that slid up and down the wall. The only way to get in or out of the elaborate cage was to crank the wheel and let the door up.
"I'm not ready. Hold on", Scott spoke as he spared one more glance over to Terry and Nicole. He lifted up a harness that rested on his shoulder and had a large rod coming out from the chest. At the end of the rod there was a neck harness that was controlled by a small hand clutch that hung off of Scott's chest. One squeeze of the clutch and the neck harness locked with a vice like grip that would squeeze tight enough that nothing would be able to get loose, but not so hard that it would snap the vertebrae. From the look of strain on Scott's face, Ana decided that the piece of machinery was probably very heavy and hard to hold for long periods of time.
While Scott was adjusting some straps on his harness, Wilson was setting up a metal cage that looked very similar to a casket. The shape was identical, but instead of hard wood there were metal bars and instead of cushions on the inside there was arm, neck, torso, and leg restraints. He had the 'metal casket' standing up so that a person could walk into it. He popped open the lid that was on hinges and it swung open with ease.
"Ready now?" Phil said from the top of the ladder.
"Ready", Wilson and Scott said in unison.
Phil started putting his weight into the wheel so that it started to turn with an ear piercing, screeching sound that almost made Nicole put her hands over her ears. Terry did the job for her as the whole group watched in awe at the procedure. They looked like they'd done in hundreds of times before and had it down to an art.
Phil's forearms started to bulge with effort as he continued to crank and then the door was up enough to see what was inside. A dark space that looked empty but movement was noticeable. It was like looking into black water and knowing that there was a man eating fish below the surface. Unrecognizable forms dashed around in the dark.
Wilson walked over to the door and it was the first time that Ana realized that there was still a layer of metal bars keeping the corral from them. The bars were spaced out enough for a leg to fit through but a human body would never be able to fit. "Come and get it motha fuckers!" He screamed.
As soon as the words escaped his mouth one of the things rushed the bars and ran face first into it. Blood flew out of its mouth from the impact, but it kept trying. It was a young man that had been in his twenties, now he was long past dead. His suit and tie were dirty and wrinkled with bloodstains covering it. His face was torn up on one said so badly that his mouth lay slack and his eye was missing. The other side worked perfectly, blinking, biting, growling, and yelling.
Wilson pulled out a Beretta 9mm and planted a bullet in his chest. Not a killing blow but he didn't seem to care. The monster kept trying to push through the bars as his arms reached out for anything to grab. He raised his gun to make it level with its face and pulled the trigger once more. The face exploded with blood and thicker fluids that were a dark green. Some of the mess ended up on Wilson's face but he didn't seem phased by the gore.
"Wilson! We need those samples alive!" Phil sounded enraged with the act. "Get the fuck away from the cage before I put a round in you myself."
Wilson didn't take it as an empty threat so he retreated back to the metal casket while swearing. Phil looked down at Scott to make sure that he still had enough energy and strength to hold the restraints. A few seconds later another one of the monsters rushed the metal bars. This one was a female that had been wearing nothing but a white, bloodstained bra and blue jeans that had fallen to her ankles.
"Now!" Scott shouted his demand up to the top of the ladder. Phil flipped and hidden switch that was on top of the wall and another set of metal bars fell behind the undead woman. She was pinned in a cage that was just big enough for her to fit snug.
Scott moved in like clockwork and shimmied the rod through one of the gaps in the bars and placed the restraint around the woman's neck. Squeezing the clutch and the restraints closed around her neck, limiting her movements. She brought her hands up and began to try and free herself from the device, a futile attempt.
"I got her", Scott said in a calm voice. It appeared that she was completely incapable of movement or freedom.
Phil hit another unseen switch that slid the closest bars to them into the steel walls, leaving behind several holes. Scott took a few steps back, bringing the woman out of the cage. He struggled to overpower her, and it worked. He forced her farther away from the cage and then her started to push her in the direction of the metal casket. With one quick movement, he pushed her in and looked at Wilson. He was already hard at work fitting the restraints around her legs and arms first, then her torso, and then her neck. Once she was fit snug into place, Scott hit the clutch once again and then his job was done.
"Well boys, one down and one to go", Phil said as he let the metal bars slide back into place.
The military muscle and the newcomers walked as one large group to Dr. Moran's private quarters. They'd gathered up one more, male creature and were wheeling them back with two forklifts. They found Moran standing anxiously outside of his door. He was twiddling his thumbs, whistling, and bouncing his feet all at the same time when the showed up.
"Very excellent. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for helping me with my studies", Dr. Moran made Ana smile with the way that he spoke. It almost seemed that he didn't even know that he was hated by the entire crew.
"Shut the fuck up", Wilson said. "We got you your two samples."
Ana looked over at Dr. Moran as he looked at the female body. His eyes drifted up and down the nearly half-naked body and he licked his lips a bit as a smirk started to form on his face. His eyes shifted over to Ana and a mix of embarrassment and fear quickly replaced the look. She cocked a brow and looked over to everyone else to see if anyone had noticed the look that he'd give the reanimated corpse. No one had. They were all conversing with one another and having a good time, completely oblivious to the interesting glance that Dr. Moran had spared on a dead woman.
The woman had a pale blue-green skin color and her veins were all showing through too much. A thick, black fluid was oozing out of her mouth as he hissed in protest at the restraints. Her eyes were around the room to everyone and hunger was heavy in her look. There was also a hunger in Dr. Moran's eyes but it wasn't the same kind.
"Thank you, I can take it from here", Moran said, more than just a little anxious to get rid of his company.
Ending Notes: So, what did you think? I hope I did what I was striving for, set up the rest of the story. Please, give me some feedback so that I can know what I need to work on to make this story as good as possible. Special thanks to SparkingDiamond (TheScreamQueen13) and any of my other readers. Thanks to everyone that has helped me make this my best story so far. Hope you like it as much as I do!
Chapter 4
With the exception of a few candles that were scattered over the room, the private barracks that housed Sgt. Wilkers was completely dark. The idea of the candlelight had been to be romantic for Dr. Jones, but the outcome was eerie.
The unlikely couple was spooning nude in the bed that was obviously built to accommodate two people. A large grin wrapped around his face as he laid gentle kisses on her shoulders and the back of her neck. She, unlike him, wore no expression. Her beautiful eyes stared off into a space as if she were seeing something that no one else could witness. Like she had her own private world and it was her best-kept secret. The kisses continued for a few more minutes before she rolled over under the soft, thin sheets.
The bed itself was large and looked like it should have been in a nice house as opposed to a horrible dark and dreary cavern. Dr. Jones' best guess was that he'd brought it with him from home, as did the rest of the decor that filled the rather large room. There were four trophy cases set up in the room with spotlights that shown down on the frozen gold men. The lights were usually an excellent source of light, but at the moment they were turned off.
Due to the turn that she pulled in the bed, Jones was facing Sgt. Wilkers. He wore the overly large, smug grin that he usually had, but her face was a mask that hid all emotion and thought. He stared into her mysterious eyes and dismissed it instantly. Always quick to write off things that he didn't understand, he found himself staring at those eyes more than once and deciding to just smile.
"I don't like the newcomers", she finally broke the silence. "It isn't good that they are here and they will only screw this whole operation up."
His became puzzled in one quick sweep and then it was replace by false bravado. "I have them under control. You really don't have to worry about them." He leaned in for a kiss in an attempt to make her feel safer.
Her hand coming up in between their mouths interrupted the kiss. With is eyes closed, Wilkers planted his lips on her hand with a kiss that would have been overzealous and too rough. Eyes opened in surprise, he leaned back to hear what more she had to add. It was obvious to him that this was one of the many moments that the romance would end if he didn't stay tuned to every single word that she spoke.
"Kenneth is a strong one and will pull you away from control if he gets a chance," she said, "and you can't let him do that. Ana seems too intelligent and will soon side with Dr. Moran. Terry and Nicole are too loyal to Kenneth and Ana. If you don't put a stop to them, we will all be destroyed and then there will be no hope for us." She concluded with a little smirk that showed that she was done with her debate. The arrogance that showed on her face meant that she knew Wilkers would be more than willing to follow her every whim.
All was said with a nod of Wilkers' head. The nod symbolized that everything would be taken care of and the newcomers would be no more A.S.A.P. He looked over to a small pile of cloths on the floor and frowned.
"I don't want to do anything right now. Can't we just fool around some more, and then I promise I will get right on it."
"I suppose that the corral will still be there in thirty minutes or so", she said it with a cocky smirk that was wasted on Wilkers. He was already set to a one-track mind. He hand started to trail down her body and he licked his lips a few times. She just lay there, letting him do whatever he wanted.
Wilson and Phil, the muscle of the military group, were standing outside the metal walls of the corral. They were talking back and forth, the usual small talk that they'd done for years. Wilson was laughing and slapping his leg when Scott came into their view. He was late, as usual, and they were, once again, angry him.
Scott forced a dopey smile that he'd perfected. He'd learned a long time before he joined the military that if you were too small to be intimidating you could always act stupid. People will underestimate you greatly if you just stand there and smile. A world full of undead monsters wouldn't change that.
"Damn it kid, where the hell have you been?" Wilson asked. He was always very anxious to get to work the corral. It became more than obvious that he harbored a deep hatred of the monsters, but it was a mystery as to why.
"Listen rookie, from now on just try to be here on time", Phil said in a much more understanding tone. He'd been the closet thing to a friend that Scott had made since starting a life in the silo.
"Will do", the smile never altered. Scott was fairly sure that Phil could look past the smile and know what it was, but as far as he knew, he was the only one. "So what's on the menu today?"
"Fuckin' Frankenstein wants two new samples. I swear to God that I'm gonna fuckin' lock him in this damn thing the next time he 'ask' us to come out here and risk our asses to get his fuckin' samples." Wilson had decided that he hated Dr. Moran from the first time that he announced his plan to train the reanimated creatures.
"Oh, you know you love working the corral", Phil said it with no fear in his voice. Scott's eyes went from the double reinforced, steel doors and walls of the corral to Phil and Wilson. He'd have never had enough courage to say that to a man twice his size.
Wilson just looked at Phil, his best friend in the silo, and let it go. He looked up at the steel doors and a slight smile came to his face followed by a look in his eyes that everyone had seen at least once since they'd worked with Wilson. A darkness circled around his pupils and the rings under his eyes seemed to ease up just a bit. His mouth started to water and he always blinked a few times to take the tears of joy from his eyes. His breathing got just a little too heavy and his eyes looked way too anxious.
"What is the corral?" Ana's voice startled the men. Her lovely voice drifted over to them like honey, but it was still as unnerving as a bee sting. "Jumpy?" She said it with amusement heavy in her voice.
"When you get used to hearing only six voices every day, a new one can scare the shit out of you", Phil said with a smile. He looked at Ana with caring eyes but she wouldn't return the look. She did her best to keep her eyes on any of the other two men because they didn't remind her of Michael; Phil did.
"That's understandable", she said.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" As he said it he realized that the rest of her group was following behind her. Kenneth led the couple with his shotgun in his hand, and Terry and Nicole were holding each other for warmth in more than one way.
"We want to know what this place is. If we are going to be forced to make a home of it then we have to know what is going on, right?" She made it a question.
"All right, but stay the fuck out of the way. I'd hate for one of you to get hurt or worse because you got too curious." Wilson seemed to wear his emotions on his sleeve.
"Preparing to open the corral's door. Safety gear and restraints ready?" Phil said as he climbed a ladder that led up the steal wall.
The wall stretched over to block off an entire corridor of natural cave. There was a four feet gap from the top of the artificial wall and the top of the cave that let everyone know that there was something behind it. The ladder was bolted to the wall and ran parallel to the doors. The ladder stretched all the way up to the top of the twenty-foot wall and appeared to go up and over to the other side. At the top of the ladder there was a crack that was attached to a chain that was attached to the door that slid up and down the wall. The only way to get in or out of the elaborate cage was to crank the wheel and let the door up.
"I'm not ready. Hold on", Scott spoke as he spared one more glance over to Terry and Nicole. He lifted up a harness that rested on his shoulder and had a large rod coming out from the chest. At the end of the rod there was a neck harness that was controlled by a small hand clutch that hung off of Scott's chest. One squeeze of the clutch and the neck harness locked with a vice like grip that would squeeze tight enough that nothing would be able to get loose, but not so hard that it would snap the vertebrae. From the look of strain on Scott's face, Ana decided that the piece of machinery was probably very heavy and hard to hold for long periods of time.
While Scott was adjusting some straps on his harness, Wilson was setting up a metal cage that looked very similar to a casket. The shape was identical, but instead of hard wood there were metal bars and instead of cushions on the inside there was arm, neck, torso, and leg restraints. He had the 'metal casket' standing up so that a person could walk into it. He popped open the lid that was on hinges and it swung open with ease.
"Ready now?" Phil said from the top of the ladder.
"Ready", Wilson and Scott said in unison.
Phil started putting his weight into the wheel so that it started to turn with an ear piercing, screeching sound that almost made Nicole put her hands over her ears. Terry did the job for her as the whole group watched in awe at the procedure. They looked like they'd done in hundreds of times before and had it down to an art.
Phil's forearms started to bulge with effort as he continued to crank and then the door was up enough to see what was inside. A dark space that looked empty but movement was noticeable. It was like looking into black water and knowing that there was a man eating fish below the surface. Unrecognizable forms dashed around in the dark.
Wilson walked over to the door and it was the first time that Ana realized that there was still a layer of metal bars keeping the corral from them. The bars were spaced out enough for a leg to fit through but a human body would never be able to fit. "Come and get it motha fuckers!" He screamed.
As soon as the words escaped his mouth one of the things rushed the bars and ran face first into it. Blood flew out of its mouth from the impact, but it kept trying. It was a young man that had been in his twenties, now he was long past dead. His suit and tie were dirty and wrinkled with bloodstains covering it. His face was torn up on one said so badly that his mouth lay slack and his eye was missing. The other side worked perfectly, blinking, biting, growling, and yelling.
Wilson pulled out a Beretta 9mm and planted a bullet in his chest. Not a killing blow but he didn't seem to care. The monster kept trying to push through the bars as his arms reached out for anything to grab. He raised his gun to make it level with its face and pulled the trigger once more. The face exploded with blood and thicker fluids that were a dark green. Some of the mess ended up on Wilson's face but he didn't seem phased by the gore.
"Wilson! We need those samples alive!" Phil sounded enraged with the act. "Get the fuck away from the cage before I put a round in you myself."
Wilson didn't take it as an empty threat so he retreated back to the metal casket while swearing. Phil looked down at Scott to make sure that he still had enough energy and strength to hold the restraints. A few seconds later another one of the monsters rushed the metal bars. This one was a female that had been wearing nothing but a white, bloodstained bra and blue jeans that had fallen to her ankles.
"Now!" Scott shouted his demand up to the top of the ladder. Phil flipped and hidden switch that was on top of the wall and another set of metal bars fell behind the undead woman. She was pinned in a cage that was just big enough for her to fit snug.
Scott moved in like clockwork and shimmied the rod through one of the gaps in the bars and placed the restraint around the woman's neck. Squeezing the clutch and the restraints closed around her neck, limiting her movements. She brought her hands up and began to try and free herself from the device, a futile attempt.
"I got her", Scott said in a calm voice. It appeared that she was completely incapable of movement or freedom.
Phil hit another unseen switch that slid the closest bars to them into the steel walls, leaving behind several holes. Scott took a few steps back, bringing the woman out of the cage. He struggled to overpower her, and it worked. He forced her farther away from the cage and then her started to push her in the direction of the metal casket. With one quick movement, he pushed her in and looked at Wilson. He was already hard at work fitting the restraints around her legs and arms first, then her torso, and then her neck. Once she was fit snug into place, Scott hit the clutch once again and then his job was done.
"Well boys, one down and one to go", Phil said as he let the metal bars slide back into place.
The military muscle and the newcomers walked as one large group to Dr. Moran's private quarters. They'd gathered up one more, male creature and were wheeling them back with two forklifts. They found Moran standing anxiously outside of his door. He was twiddling his thumbs, whistling, and bouncing his feet all at the same time when the showed up.
"Very excellent. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for helping me with my studies", Dr. Moran made Ana smile with the way that he spoke. It almost seemed that he didn't even know that he was hated by the entire crew.
"Shut the fuck up", Wilson said. "We got you your two samples."
Ana looked over at Dr. Moran as he looked at the female body. His eyes drifted up and down the nearly half-naked body and he licked his lips a bit as a smirk started to form on his face. His eyes shifted over to Ana and a mix of embarrassment and fear quickly replaced the look. She cocked a brow and looked over to everyone else to see if anyone had noticed the look that he'd give the reanimated corpse. No one had. They were all conversing with one another and having a good time, completely oblivious to the interesting glance that Dr. Moran had spared on a dead woman.
The woman had a pale blue-green skin color and her veins were all showing through too much. A thick, black fluid was oozing out of her mouth as he hissed in protest at the restraints. Her eyes were around the room to everyone and hunger was heavy in her look. There was also a hunger in Dr. Moran's eyes but it wasn't the same kind.
"Thank you, I can take it from here", Moran said, more than just a little anxious to get rid of his company.
Ending Notes: So, what did you think? I hope I did what I was striving for, set up the rest of the story. Please, give me some feedback so that I can know what I need to work on to make this story as good as possible. Special thanks to SparkingDiamond (TheScreamQueen13) and any of my other readers. Thanks to everyone that has helped me make this my best story so far. Hope you like it as much as I do!