Kyle West - Darkness

“Makara, this is Anna, aboard the Aeneas. Do you have a copy, over?”

At that moment, the speakers sizzled. Within the cacophony was a voice, heavily garbled.

“It’s her!” Julian said.

I felt relief wash over me. If that truly was her, then Makara was still alive. But the fact remained — she had been extremely close to a nuclear blast. She could be…

Her voice came through the speakers, loud and clear.

“Hello? Anyone there…?”

“Yes, we’re all here,” Anna said, breaking into a smile. “Glad you’re alright, Makara.”

“I couldn’t reach you guys,” Makara said. “That damn cloud. I went above, thinking it would be safer.”

“Meet us at the coordinates I’m about to send you,” Ashton said. “You have backup?”

“Yeah,” Makara said. “I have twenty Angels on board. We’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Thank God,” Julian said, closing his eyes.

“What the hell happened in that Bunker?” Makara asked. “Where’s Alex?”

“I’m here,” I said, stepping forward. “There was this crazy cult that was trying to kill us and they wanted to nuke Los Angeles using this ship. We have their leader in custody right now.”

“He’s there? On the bridge?”

I glanced at Elias, as if to make sure he was still there. “Yeah. He is.”

“And that whole cult is on the ship? Will twenty be enough?”

“They probably have about forty on board,” I said. “There’s another thing. They’re all women except for their leader.”

Makara paused. “Not even going to ask. Armed?”

“Some of them,” I said. “Maybe ten. Whatever they are, they probably are not as well-trained as us.”

“We can connect the airlocks,” Makara said. “The blast doors were designed to interlock.”

“Meet us there,” Ashton said.

“Gotcha,” Makara said. “Over and out.”

Gilgamesh and Aeneas connected at the blast doors. In a matter of moments, our rescue squad was going to take back the ship.

“Let them know, Ashton,” Makara said.

Ashton held a button. “Attention, Aeneas. You are about to be boarded by the New Angels. Do not resist. I repeat, do not resist, and you will not be killed. If you do resist, your leader will be compromised. I repeat…”

As Ashton repeated his message, I stood near the metal door leading out from the bridge, ready to open it and provide support to the New Angels once they boarded.

“Elias,” Ashton said. “Tell your followers to stand down.”

Elias said nothing. Michael shoved him forward, closer to the dash where the mic would pick him up.

“My children,” Elias said. “Do not resist the boarders; do as this terrorist has said. It shall all go according to plan. Only have faith. The Community shall rise again.”

Elias closed his eyes.

“Stand by,” Ashton said. “Opening airlock in 3…2…”

Elias opened his eyes, and I felt fear crawl all over me. He gave a sick, twisted smile.

His eyes were completely white.

Michael raised his gun, but Elias battered it away. He next targeted Julian, who only got a single shot off, which missed. Elias tackled Julian with surprising strength. Anna jumped from her seat, unsheathing her katana.

Elias next focused on her. I raised my Beretta and fired at Elias’s chest. He took the bullets, dropping to the ground. A dribble of purple slime leaked from his lips. He fell the rest of the way, crashing to the deck head first.

I stared at Elias’s downed form. He wasn’t a Howler. He was…something else.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s help the others.”

We kept the ship locked into hover mode. We opened the door to the deck, leaving Elias’s body behind.

The Community surrendered without a fight. With their leader fallen, it seemed as if their fangs had been drawn.

Everyone was gathered in the main anteroom. The floor was coated with plates, vegetables, and water. The dinner remains had never been cleaned up and the crazy flight of the ship over the past hour had really made a mess of things. The New Angels, a mix of Raider and Exile, surrounded the Community members who stood in the center of the large compartment with hands over heads and without weapons.

“What do we do about them?” one of the Raiders asked.

Makara said nothing for a moment. It was if she were still trying to wrap her head around the entire concept of a crazed man leading a cult of women. Though I had been here for a while now, even I had difficulty grasping that. I wondered why it had to be that way — how something like the Community could exist for over a decade before finally meeting its end.

Elias having the white eyes confirmed my suspicion — that he really was under the control of Askala and the Radaskim. But with the Community leader dead, there was no way of knowing what the Radaskim’s plan for us was. It was a puzzle. A puzzle we might never find the answer for.

“Tie them up,” Makara finally said. “Until I can decide what to do with them.”

“They can always go back to the Bunker,” I said.

Makara looked at me. “The Bunker we’re going to use?”

She had a point. Maybe there wasn’t enough food in Bunker 84 to sustain us all, but at least there was some.

“They might be too dangerous to be left alive,” Grudge said.

The women stirred at that, and some began to protest. Makara held up a hand.

“Quiet,” Makara said. “There’s already been far too much bloodshed. We need to get back to base and begin the process of evacuating Pyrite. We also need to start getting food from 108 to 84.” Makara turned to the Angels behind her. “Stand guard here.”

“Evacuation?” I asked.

Makara looked at me. “Guess we’ve been out of touch too long. The swarm is besieging Pyrite. It’s going to fall soon. The Elekai are the only thing holding the skies for us. And even they won’t last forever.”

I thought of Askal. We had to really hurry if he was in danger.

The blast door opened.

“Julian, Chris, Nathaniel…” Makara said. “Come with me. The rest of you, stay here. Ashton and Anna can continue piloting Aeneas and we can begin ferrying people to 84.” She exited the ship

We all nodded. It was going to be a long, dangerous process, but it was one we needed to get done soon.

We began walking back to the bridge, leaving the Angels to guard duty. The ship began drifting to port.

“What the hell?” I asked. “I thought this thing was parked.”

“Did Makara disconnect Gilgamesh already?” Michael asked.

Ashton’s already pale face blanched. “No. That only could have been done from the bridge of Aeneas.”

I paused, a sickness overtaking me. Surely, it couldn’t be…

As we sprinted up the corridor, the ship lurched forward, throwing us all to the deck. Even then, I crawled forward around the hook in the corridor.

The door to the bridge was shut.

I didn’t want to believe the worst — that Elias was somehow still alive and was now piloting this thing to who knew where. I had no idea how he had stayed alive, but there was no other explanation.

“It’s him,” I said. “He’s piloting Aeneas.”

“I know,” Michael said. “But to where?”

“We need to contact Makara.”

“Obviously,” Ashton said. “But first we need to shut down the ship.”

“Shut down the ship?” I asked. “That will send us crashing.”

Ashton remained silent at that. From behind in the anteroom, I heard the sounds of struggle. A few guns went off.