Kyle West - Extinction

“I don’t know what’s after this door,” Michael said. “Be ready for anything. Go on my orders. If the fire’s too heavy, I’m closing the door again.”

The men nodded their understanding. Michael clicked off his rifle light. He waited another moment before pulling the latch.

The door swung open, revealing the hangar to be dim and empty, vast in the absence of spaceships. If there was to be any resistance, we should have found it here.

Michael stepped forward. We fanned out, forming a wide V.

I focused on a dark row of windows halfway up the right-hand wall. The control room.

“They could be in there,” I said.

Michael nodded. “We need to be careful. It’s too damn quiet for my liking. Maybe Cain went out on the attack, but I don’t think either Rey or Jade would get their hands dirty.” Michael paused a moment, thinking further. “If Rey and Jade are here, that means they have guards.”

Michael motioned us over to the right-hand wall. We followed its length until we reached a doorway. The doorway opened onto a long, dark corridor. On our left rose a set of steps, leading to the control room.

“That’s the way up,” I said.

“I don’t want to attack into a choke,” Michael said.

“We don’t even know what’s up there,” another Angel said.

“True,” Michael said. “We need a way to flush them out.”

I handed Michael one of my grenades. “Try this.”

Michael took the grenade, thinking on it.

From upstairs, a woman screamed. It sounded like…

“Ruth!” I said.

“Hold up,” Michael said. “They’ll kill her if we try anything.”

“Well, we have to do something,” I said. “I don’t think they know we’re here.”

“I know that,” Michael said, frustrated. “Let me think.”

Ruth screamed again. A man cursed. There was a slamming noise, like someone being forced against a wall.

That was enough. If this was just bait to get me to go up the stairs, then I guessed it was going to work.

I charged ahead, my feet slamming on the steps.

“Alex!” Michael said.

It became silent upstairs. I threw my AR over my shoulder by the strap, instead reaching for my Beretta. I rounded the flight, only to see darkness ahead. I was beginning to regret my decision, and it felt as if my heart would pound out of my chest. I forced myself onward, before I could second-guess myself.

I burst onto the landing. My first sight was of Ruth lying in the corner, her face bloodied. The second was of Jade, shirt off, blue eyes looking at me with shock. They were the only two in the room.

A guard burst into the room, aiming a handgun my way. I ducked right before a bullet was fired. It whizzed over my head. I returned my own fire with the Beretta, not really having the time to take careful aim.

Time seemed to slow, each bullet taking an eternity. The guard got several more shots off, and it was only the darkness of the room that saved me. Each flash gave me a brief, terrifying glimpse of the guard, appearing at a different location with each shot. His eyes were wide with fear.

Finally, the man cried out. I thought I’d gotten him, but he kept on shooting, seemingly unaffected. By this time, four shots had been fired at me, and each had missed. I couldn’t stay lucky for too much longer; it was only a matter of time until one of them connected.

I adjusted my aim upward, toward the neck and face of the guard. This would be a hard shot, in the darkness and with a small, moving target.

I fired twice, nabbing the guard in the jaw. He gave a bloody scream as I fired again, right between the eyes.

During the few seconds the gunfight happened, Michael and the other Angels had charged up the stairs from behind. Meanwhile, the Weasel had been searching for his weapon.

I didn’t give him another second. He turned away just as I fired into his back. He gave a horrible, parched wail that seemed more Howler than human. I fired again as he sprawled onto the floor and went still.

I scanned the rest of the control room, adrenaline coursing through my veins. There was another door, at which I pointed my Beretta with shaking hands. I held this position for several seconds, my hands shaking, as Angels entered the room.

Finally, I forced myself to relax. Ruth was in the corner, fighting tears. There was a tightness in my throat, and an anger in my gut for what had happened, or what was about to happen. At least Jade was dead, and Ruth was safe.

“Here,” I said, handing her my canteen.

She took it, taking a drink. I set my pack on the ground, opened it up, and pulled out a clean shirt. I knelt beside her.

“Here,” I said. “You can clean up with this.”

I looked at her face, which she turned aside. A deep bruise had surfaced below her left eye, while her nose had been bloodied. It could have been worse, but it looked like we came along just in time.

She wet the shirt with my canteen and wiped at her face. Her breaths came out ragged.

“It’s alright,” I said, sitting on the floor. “You’re safe now.”

Michael stood behind me. He hadn’t yet seen the inside of the room, nor Ruth. He knelt next to me.

Ruth looked up, having cleaned herself as best she could. There was hardness and anger in her eyes that reminded me nothing of the happy woman I’d known in Bunker 108. She slowly stood, then walked over to Jade’s body. She paused for a moment before kicking him full in the face.

“He had his guards grab me while I was sleeping,” she said, her voice wavering. “And they dragged me here. Rey would have stopped him, but Rey went up with Cain.” She was quiet for a moment. “He had practically begged to stay behind. Now, I guess I see why he wanted that.”

“Well, he’s dead now,” I said.

Michael shook his head. There was sadness, and anger, in his eyes. Michael took off his pack, reaching in for a camo tee.

“Here,” he said.

Ruth put it on gratefully over her old shirt, which had a tear in it.

“And this.”

Ruth grabbed the handgun that Michael handed her.

“Thanks,” she said. “Let’s just…not talk about this. Just give me something I can do to take my mind off it.”

“What can you tell us about the resistance down here? We’ve found a few guards, but not many.”

Ruth nodded, recollecting herself. “Most went upstairs to fight. They had… him… stay down here, as well as the rest of the Diamonds. That’s about twenty men.”

Michael nodded, obviously pleased with this news. “We’ve killed what, four or five so far?”

I nodded. “About.”

“We have twenty of our own,” Michael said. “The rest are fighting upstairs.”

“The people are in the dorms,” Ruth said. “The guards sleep outside those, blocking the exits. There’s also the night guards at Hydroponics.”

“We passed that, but came straight here,” Michael said. “I imagine the rest of the Diamonds know we’re here.”

“They might surrender, if we tell them about Jade,” I said.

Michael looked at the former gang leader’s bloody corpse. He looked so pathetic with his shirt off. A pool of blood had collected beneath his body. I knelt next to him.

“What are you doing?” Ruth asked.

I reached for Jade’s left hand, suppressing a shiver. I tried to ignore those lifeless eyes, staring vacantly at me. I pried five diamond rings off his right hand, and then reached for his left, pulling off the other five. They were flecked with blood. I wiped them on Jade’s sleeve before pocketing them.

“Proof of our victory,” I said. “Any Diamond will know what we’ve done once we show these. I doubt they’re loyal enough to fight after he’s dead. Jade wasn’t the type of person who commanded respect.”