Kyle West - Origins

The doors were almost shut, but before they closed two more crawlers slipped in. They slithered along the ground with their bowed legs. Long, curved teeth lined the insides of their powerful jaws, and their all-white eyes burned fiercely.

They circled around us, waiting to strike. We fired at them, but it was as if they could anticipate our movements. At every shot, they danced out of the way.

Lisa, from above, aimed at one of them, and bided her time for the perfect shot.

One of them broke, going straight for me. Anna stepped in front of me, using her blade as a shield. The creature screamed as its neck was ripped open by the blade, and purple liquid oozed from the gash as the crawler crashed into the floor next to me.

The other one hissed, and fell upon Samuel like lightning. He was tackled to the floor, but before the creature could sink its teeth into his neck, Makara and I pulled it off. The thing was slippery, and the slime on its skin burned on contact. The crawler slipped through my hands, targeting me. Makara tried to hold it off. I could feel its drool dripping on my neck.

Bam .

The creature collapsed on top of my chest, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Anna had shot it with her sidearm.

The others pulled the monster off me. It took a moment before I could breathe again.

“Alex, are you alright?” Makara asked.

“Here,” Samuel said, handing me a canteen. “Wash off with this. It probably doesn’t have the human strain in it but it pays to be careful.”

“Thanks,” I said, my voice raspy.

I washed off my hands and neck, and stared at the three bodies on the floor. I didn’t know why it was only the human ones that exploded. I was thankful we didn’t have to worry about it.

Everyone stood for a moment, catching their breath. Outside, we could hear the horde screaming and howling.

“We need to secure the perimeter and come up with a plan,” Samuel said.

We walked around the large hangar, checking for any doors, holes, or cracks where anything could slip through. There seemed to be no entry except for where we had come in. Soon I found myself focusing on the cargo plane that was still parked in the far corner of the hangar.

If they could fly a plane, who was to say we couldn’t?

“I want to check that plane out,” I said.

“Good idea,” Samuel said. “There could be food, water, or other supplies. Why don’t you and Anna do that?”

Anna nodded toward the plane. “Come on.”

A boarding staircase led up to the door. I was afraid it might be locked, but the door opened right up when I tried the latch, revealing the plane’s interior. Anna stepped inside, pointing her flashlight left and right. In the back of the plane were crates of MREs. Looking at the dates, I saw they were long expired.

We walked into the cockpit. I noticed two large pilot chairs, and behind each of them additional chairs. There were hundreds of buttons, a control stick in front of the pilot’s chair, and a large LCD screen set in the control panel, midway between the pilot’s and the copilot’s chairs.

“Cool.”

I stood there a moment, and the LCD screen flashed on automatically. It startled me; it must have sensed our motion. The screen displayed a map of the United States, and several red circles, each marked with a number — 21, 33, 105. I didn’t see the point of any of it. I saw 108, right there in the San Bernardino Mountains. 114 was not too far northwest of it. I realized that these were Bunker locations.

I searched for 40. I found it in northeastern Arizona, near the border of New Mexico.

“Do you think this plane works?” Anna asked.

“It did for them,” I said. “But maybe Harland is a trained pilot. None of us could ever fly this thing.”

It was too bad. Taking this plane would cut an enormous amount of time on our journey. We might even make it to Bunker One tonight, if only we had someone who knew how to fly.

I turned my attention back to the screen. Most of the numbering was gray. Bunkers 23, 40, 76, 88, 108, 114 had red lettering. I guessed that the gray meant that the bunker was no longer operational. At the time 40 had fallen, which must have not been too long ago, there were still six bunkers left. The only ones unaccounted for were 76 and 88. They were both located on the West Coast — one near San Francisco, and the other near Portland. Not far enough for the Blights to have reached them. I wondered if they were still operating.

My attention homed in on Bunker One. There it was, right there…Cheyenne, Colorado. According to the map, we were at the halfway point.

I touched the red dot of Bunker One. The screen responded, and flashed.

“Location selected,” came a female voice from the dash. “Initiating launch sequence.”

“Oh, shit,” I said.

I searched the screen madly for some way to abort it. But the screen had faded, and I could feel the plane thrum as the engines roared to life.

Samuel burst into the cockpit.

“Alex, what the hell is going on?”

I turned around. “I…I don’t know. I just pressed it, and it looks as if it’s going to take off.”

Samuel scanned the screen. It had come back on, showing the map again. On top of the screen, it read, “autopilot engaged.”

“Autopilot,” Samuel said. “They weren’t flying it at all. The plane’s computer was doing that.”

“Is that where they’re going?” I asked. “Bunker One?”

Everyone else ran into the cockpit.

“Alex, what the hell did you do?” Makara asked.

“I don’t know, I…”

“Wait,” Lisa said. “This might be our way out. We have no other chance with those monsters out there.”

“Shit, the hangar doors!” Samuel said. “They’re still closed. We can’t leave if someone doesn’t open them…”

“Whoever does that might die,” Makara said. “They wouldn’t be able to get back on the plane.”

The plane started moving.

“Well,” Samuel said. “We’re screwed.”

The plane wheeled toward the doors and stopped before them. Slowly, they rolled back on their own.

“They’re opening!” Samuel said.

“Must have been programmed into the hangar somehow,” I said.

As soon as the doors opened even a crack, the monsters started pouring into the hangar. They could do nothing to us as the plane wheeled forward, crushing them beneath the front wheels.

“We can’t take off as long as any of them are blocking the runway,” Samuel said.

The plane’s landing lights flashed on, revealing a sea of crawlers, their white glowing eyes staring back at us from the darkness. They pushed toward the plane as if of one mind.

“We’re not going to make it,” Makara said.

As soon as she said that, the plane stopped. In the back, I could hear something moving.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Obstruction noted,” the voice said. “Engaging in vertical launch mode.”

We all fell to the ground as the floor lifted up from under us.

“Find a chair and strap in,” Samuel said. “We’re taking off!”

I found the seat behind the copilot’s chair, and strapped myself in. As everyone else found seats, the plane paused, levitating in midair. The thrusters turned again and engaged. We surged forward, the acceleration pushing me back into my seat.

We arced upward, toward the night sky, leaving the Great Blight under us. I looked out the window to see the dark world fall away.

I could only hope there was a runway to land on when we got there.

We had been on the plane an hour. I headed to the back, out of the cockpit and into the cargo area. I found a seat where I could get a moment of peace before the plane descended.