David Bernstein - Machines of the Dead

Kevin pulled the knife from his boot, his stomach screaming at him for bending over to get it. He crept up behind Smithford, and using both hands raised the weapon.

Maria spit in Smithford’s face.

“Fucking bitch,” he growled, then tore her t-shirt down the middle, exposing her breasts.

With all he had, Kevin sank the knife into the back of Smithford’s neck, just below the skull. The man let out a small gasp, then collapsed onto Maria. Kevin shoved the man off of her, his body sprawled onto the bed.

Maria sat up, scooting away from the body, holding her shirt closed with both hands. She was breathing heavy, blood trickling from her nose and mouth.

“He… he tried to rape me,” she said, staring at the dead form. She looked at Kevin. “You fucking killed him.”

He nodded. His side was killing him and his face hurt like hell. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth. “Now do you believe me?”

Maria nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. She nodded. “We have to…”

“To what?” Kevin barked.

“Tell someone. Report what’s been going on here.”

“We will, expose Reynolds and the others, but first we have to make it out of here.”

Maria hopped out of bed, went over to her closet and changed into her black fatigues. She strapped on her gun belt and turned to Kevin.

Kevin grabbed his own gun from the floor, then Smithford’s, tucking it into his pants at the small of his back.

“Where to?” Maria asked.

“We’re meeting Jack and Zaun at the armory.”

“You better hope they have Reynolds or none of us will be going anywhere.”

A banging at the door made Kevin and Maria jump.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Everything all right in there?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“I heard screaming.”

“I was having a nightmare. Sorry if I woke you.”

“Open up so I can make sure you’re okay.”

Maria’s nostrils flared as she took a breath. Silently, she mouthed the words “What do we do?”

“Ask. Who. It. Is,” he replied in a whisper.

“That you, Clark, wanting to get into my room after hours?” She tried to sound lighthearted, playful.

“Yeah, it’s Clark. Stop fooling around. You know the protocol. Just open up so I know everything’s okay or I’ll have to call whoever’s on duty.”

Shocking Kevin, Maria opened the door and put her gun in Jerome Clark’s face. He was wearing shorts and a white t-shirt, and looked as if he had been sleeping.

“What the hell, Maria?” he asked.

“Get in here or I swear to god I’ll blow your head off.” She backed up, giving him room to enter. She opened the door a little more, Kevin saw Clark’s eyes move to the bed where Smithford’s body lay-blood covering the man’s back and neck, staining the white sheets crimson-the knife still protruding from the corpse.

Clark’s eyes went wide, his mouth hanging open. “What the fuck did you guys do?”

“Get in here,” Maria demanded, talking through clenched teeth.

“Okay, just calm down,” Clark said, holding his arms out, but before Kevin knew it, the man had bolted from the doorway.

“Shit,” Maria said, running into the hall. Kevin pulled his sidearm, joining her. She aimed her gun at Clark’s back, but didn’t fire. “Damn it.”

Kevin watched the man’s form disappear into a room down the hall.

“You had a shot,” Kevin said.

“I’m not about to shoot a man in the back who might not be involved in all this.”

“Don’t you get it?” he asked. “We’re on our own. We killed Smithford. We’re as good as dead down here. You know what happens when a soldier turns on other soldiers. And these guys are nothing more than fucking mercs. All they’ll see are two people getting in the way of them making money. It’s us against them.”

Maria wiped a hand over her head. She looked on the verge of losing it. “I know. You’re right. I’m having a real hard time absorbing all this. I mean Smithford’s dead, and now Clark’s going to tell the others that we killed him.”

“Let’s move,” Kevin said. “We have to get to Jack and hope he has Reynolds. It’s the only way we’ll be safe. And don’t you dare hesitate on killing these pricks. They’re the enemy now and they won’t hesitate to kill you.”

They took off running down the hall when gunshots erupted from behind, Kevin feeling the whoosh of the bullets as they just missed his head. Turning, he saw Clark pointing his gun in their direction. He fired back, hitting Clark twice in the chest, red flowers blooming on his white t-shirt.

“Drop the weapon!” came a voice from behind.

Kevin spun around and saw Maria with her arms up. Two guards were standing at the end of the hall, having just come from the stairwell. He didn’t even think about trying to get off a shot-the two M4’s pointing his way ensuring him a quick death. With no other options, he joined Maria and put his hands in the air.

Only a few guards patrolled the bunker’s hallways after 9 p.m. There was no “lights out” rule forbidding Jack from leaving his room whatever time he felt like doing so. If he and Zaun came upon a guard, they would simply say they couldn’t sleep, needing fresh air, so to speak.

A s it turned out, they didn’t run into anyone, and reached Chambers’ room unimpeded. There were cameras in most of the halls, but that was something neither Jack nor Zaun could do anything about.

Jack knocked on Chambers’ door, and a few seconds later, the big guy showed himself, wearing a t-shirt and boxers, obviously ready for bed. He eyed both men.

“What brings you two here at this-” the man’s eye went wide as the steak knife Zaun was holding sunk into his neck.

Jack stared in disbelief, watching the blade cut across the man’s throat, leaving behind a cavernous wound. Blood gushed, covering Zaun’s arm and Jack’s face and chest. Chambers’ hands shot out, one grabbing Jack, the other Zaun, but the man’s grip was weakening fast, his eyes staring at Jack in astonishment. Zaun kicked him in the stomach, sending him tumbling backward into the room.

Zaun shot passed Jack into the room, yanking him inside. Jack watched Zaun go over to Chambers as the man thrashed around on the floor, blood covering the room. “Shut the door, Jack,” Zaun said, harshly.

Jack stood motionless, unable to catch up with what had happened. He could only stare as Zaun leaned over Chambers and plunged the knife’s blade into the man’s chest, stilling him in seconds.

Turning to look at Jack, Zaun repeated his command to shut the door.

Shaken from his stupor, Jack reached for the door and closed it.

“Start looking for-” Zaun stopped mid-sentence and darted over to the nightstand positioned by the bed. Picking up a small piece of rectangular plastic, credit-card-like in appearance, he asked, “Is this it?”

“I… I. ” Jack’s mind was swirling, unable to stop seeing the image of Chambers’ neck opening up and blood pouring out. He had known the man. Had spoken to him about life. The guy had saved his and Zaun’s life back in the alley. He began panicking, wondering if they had made a mistake. What if Kevin was wrong about everything? Or crazy?

Zaun walked up to Jack and slapped him across the face. “What’s the matter with you?”

“You killed him.”

“You’re damn right I did. We couldn’t take a chance with this one, Jack. He would’ve smelled something was off. I had to act, get the first kill over with. I’m sorry if I startled you. Go throw up if you need to, but we need to keep moving.”

Jack stared at Zaun’s blood covered hands, the knife’s blade dripping with red.