James Knapp - Element Zero

I started to run toward them, not sure what I’d do when I got there. All I knew what that this woman had killed the first real friend I’d ever had, and she was about to kill the only one I had left. Before Penny could do anything else, Flax swung back around. The edge of her knife slashed Penny’s arm open, and blood splashed onto the floor.

“Penny!”

I ran. One of the batons was on the floor, and I went to scoop it up and fell. I slid across the tiles, then managed to pick myself up and stumble toward them.

Penny turned and saw me at the last minute. I flew past her and brought the baton down on the tattooed woman’s neck, but it didn’t stop her. I lost my footing, and the knife whipped over my head as I fell onto my butt.

Penny stood, rearing back to deliver a strike, when Flax stabbed her in the chest.

It was the most horrible sound I’d ever heard. The blade went in right at the base of her throat, and the hilt struck so hard it forced the air out of her mouth in a spray of blood. She jerked once, and the baton clattered onto the floor.

“No!”

Flax wrenched the knife out, and Penny choked. Blood was pumping out of the gash. Her eyes rolled and she fell to the floor.

“No! Penny, no!”

I scrambled beside her. A pool of blood was growing around her head. I put my hands over the hole, but it kept coming. I couldn’t make it stop.

The room got bright around me as I stared down at her. I looked for her colors, to try to soothe them, to try to stop any pain she might have, but I couldn’t find them. They were already gone. Penny was dead.

Penny, no …this can’t be happening …

I let go of her and held my head. It felt like it was going to explode. I couldn’t hear anything or feel anything. I was still staring down at her when I felt Flax’s hand grab my arm.

“Zoe Ott?” she growled.

I jerked away and ran. My foot slipped in Penny’s blood and I went down on one knee, then bolted back toward the stairwell as the woman’s footsteps closed in behind me.

I made it to the stairwell door and pulled it open. When I was through, I turned and tried to slam it shut, but I was too late. A tattooed hand clamped down on the edge of the door and held it. I backpedaled as Flax shoved it open and stepped onto the landing.

“Get away from me!”

I ran for the stairs, but she cut me off and backed me into the corner, up against the concrete wall.

“You’re too late,” I gasped. I could barely breathe. I could feel hatred pour off her as she walked right up to me. She was going to kill me too, but I didn’t care. In less than a minute, the missiles would fall.

“You’re too late,” I whispered.

The red-haired bitch flinched when I grabbed a fistful of her shirt and pulled her up onto her toes. In the corner of my eye, I saw the launch countdown drop below three minutes.

“How are you doing it?” I asked. “How are you controlling the satellite?” She just smiled, blood running from one nostril.

“Goddamn it, make it stop!” I screamed in her face.

“You’re going to die,” she said. “You’re all going to die now.”

“You’ll die too.”

“I don’t care,” she said. She’d started to cry. “I don’t care anymore. You killed my friend …my best …”

“Your friend had me cut open and tried to kill me,” I said. “Fuck her. However you’re doing it, stop the launch.”

“You killed—”

I slammed her back against the wall, and that woke her up a little.

“You’re going to kill everyone in this fucking city?” I said. My breath was coming fast now. The blood felt hot in my veins, and I felt a string of drool start to run over my bottom lip. The JZI flashed warnings as whatever it was inside me twisted in the back of my head. The counter was getting too low.

“Yes …”

My fingers squeezed on her throat, and another fat drop of blood came out of her nostril.

“I don’t know how you’re doing it,” I said, “but I know you are.”

The bitch’s eyes started to roll as I kept up the pressure on her throat. Her pupils dilated, then relaxed.

“Last chance,” I said.

“Go to hell,” she gasped.

Bite …

I let go of her neck and put my palm over her mouth. Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in and felt her scrawny neck under my lips. I could feel the big vein there throbbing, then the salt of her sweat on my tongue. My mouth opened, my lips peeling back like it was out of my control.

Do it…

I bit down, and she screamed. Greasy blood filled my mouth, and the warmth ran down my neck. Something inside me drove me, telling me to bite harder, deeper. It was all I could do to stop with that vein still pulsing under my tongue.

Do it …

I squeezed my eyes shut and shoved her away, down on her back onto the floor. Blood was running out of the bite mark on her neck, flowing down her chest and seeping into the dress she wore. She tried to say something but couldn’t, as she stared up at me in horror. She held out her hands, and they started to shake.

“N …no …” she gasped. I stomped her bony chest with the heel of my boot, knocking her back. I drew the knife again and took a step toward her. I swallowed blood, and even though it made me sick, my teeth still itched to bite again. Drool leaked out of the corners of my mouth.

“You ruined me,” I heaved. I closed the gap between us. “You motherfuckers ruined me…. ”

“I …lost him …” she whispered. “I lost …him …”

Kneeling down over her, I put the point of the blade under her chin. She didn’t react when it touched her. She didn’t look like she was seeing me anymore.

“You …will bring about …destruction …” she wheezed. Her head lolled, and she fell back onto the concrete. I spit on the floor next to me and wiped my mouth.

In the corner of my eye, I saw the launch countdown had frozen.

Blood began to pool around the little bitch’s head. Her eyes went out of focus.

“You …save …my …life …” she whispered. Then she let out a long breath and went still.

I moved the knife away and pushed myself back up onto my feet. My head spun and I leaned against the wall, leaving a smear of blood.

I turned and left the stairwell, letting the door slam shut behind me.

An alarm bell went off as I shoved open a fire door and came out into the cold night air where the transmitter dish towered above me. In the distance, over the howl of the wind, I could hear the scream of jets. Shielding my face against the snow, I scanned the tarmac. Fawkes’s signature was close.

Wachalowski, this is Alice. The launch has been aborted. Repeat: the launch has been aborted. What’s your status?

I checked the countdown and saw it had stopped.

How?

They never reached Vaggot. He manually disarmed the satellite from inside on his own.

What about Zoe?

Unknown. What is your status?

I’m at the transmitter.

I squinted through the storm and switched to night vision. Sweeping the area, I spotted a group of figures in the distance. Two of them were carrying some kind of crate between them.

I’ve got Fawkes, I told her.

Something hit me from my left, lifting my feet up off the ground. A large, meaty shoulder knocked the wind out of me, and I felt a big hand on my chest before I was shoved back. I landed on my side on the blacktop and slid a couple feet as a large figure moved toward me, its moonlit eyes glaring down.