Benjamin Wray - Acid Reign - Genesis

Private Gray noticed the trance Alvarez was in and looked out his own window to see what he was looking at.

“They’re slowing down. Keep your distance, Private.” The captain swiveled the display around to his side and zoomed in on an incomplete model of the area. He watched Ripp and Gus’s tracer as it navigated through the destruction effortlessly, and tried to ignore the growing warning inside his gut.

He convinced himself that there was nothing to worry about. Their orders were simple, eliminate the runners by any means. His men were well trained, and two unsuspecting runners, focused on the dangers of the Fringe, shouldn’t be a problem.

“We should shoot up now, while we have a head start.”

“Didn’t you shoot up before we left port?”

“Never be too careful,” Ripp said with a smile.

“Now, I’m just saying this because I care, but I think you have a problem, Ripp.”

“Not a radiation problem,” Ripp said.

Gus wasn’t used to Ripp justifying the overuse of the radiation stims. Usually he would just ignore the prods, but justifying it, even in joking, verified the suspicion Gus had.

“You should talk. Can’t be worse than living on Johnny’s liquor,” Ripp said defensively.

As much as Gus wanted to address the issue, he knew he couldn’t argue with that. A click and hiss echoed through the transport as they both injected their necks with a bright liquid from small metal vials.

Gus pulled off the main road and onto a narrow one that was bordered by rows of barren cement terraces. In front of them, filling the horizon, was the monstrous waterpark.

The fifteen-acre spaghetti bowl of waterslides, tide pools and splash pads remained intact after the Fissure. Dried out dust-filled pools surrounded an enormous building. In some of the pools there were large sections of slides missing, but huge, rusted, jagged metal frames of playgrounds remained.

Gus slowed and parked in one of the shallow pools next to the main building. Filling the four-story building were more tubes, slides, and play areas. Shining from under many of the slides was a faint white glow that gently cut through the rusted orange fog of the Fringe.

Growing in the dust, under the canopy of rusted slides, were thousands of white, luminescent lilies. No one could explain how these flowers survived or what made them glow. In certain areas, Runners would find them in small groupings, maybe four or five at a time, but here there were thousands.

“Let’s do this quick,” Ripp said.

They moved to the back of the transport and Ripp typed in the code on a panel. The cargo bay opened. Inside, there were a dozen different tech tools and gear strapped to the walls along with two large cases bolted to the floor.

Gus helped Ripp put on a full view rad-helmet. The air filter and oxygen tank were on the backside of it. The front was a solid glass shield. Ripp looked down at his Pigeon and saw that the transport that had been following them was only a half-mile away.

“We gotta hurry,” Ripp said.

Ripp latched his helmet in place and turned the glow light on. After Ripp helped him with his helmet, Gus turned on his two-way radio and motioned for Ripp to do the same.

“You think they know that we know they’re following us?” Gus asked.

“No, they would have come at us right when we stopped. They’re still hanging back.”

Ripp grabbed a submachine gun from one of the cases and threw the strap around his shoulder. Gus grabbed his signature semi-auto shotgun with the shortened barrel and holstered a large revolver. He took a rectangular locking mechanism off the wall and put it in his pack.

“I have an idea,” Gus said as he put a small canister of oil in his pack. He slung the bag around his shoulder, hefted the shotgun and put a hand on the side door of the transport.

“Ready?” he asked and turned to find a definitely ready Ripp, who motioned impatiently for Gus to open the door.

The door flew open. A rush of dust and thick orange-hued air bellowed into the transport as Gus and Ripp hopped out. They ran to a broken wall on the side of the main building. The open part of the wall led to a set of stairs leading down below the lobby floor. The stairwell was dark and damp but the luminescent flowers growing in the corners gave enough light to see the steps.

They slowed as they came to the bottom of the stairs and stopped at an iron gate. Black water filled both sides of a cement walkway that ran under the gate and continued down a dark corridor. Short, faint moans and banging gently echoed from an opening near the end of the hallway.

Gus and Ripp turned down the lights in their helmets.

“Ready?” Ripp asked.

The captain pointed to where Ripp and Gus’s transport had stopped just outside the main building. “Hold up.”

Private Allen slammed on the breaks throwing everyone forward, and making the captain drop the holo-map he was holding.

“Geesh Allen,” Gray said, hitting him on the side of the head.

“Sorry, Sir.”

“It’s fine, just get your head right,” said the captain calmly as he grabbed the holo-map from the floor. “Hats on, guys.” He pointed at a broken section of one of the slides that had fallen and was laying on its side. “Private, pull up just left of the big tube there. That should be out of their line of sight if they happen to come back out before we are set.”

“What’s with the glow?” Private Gray asked, pointing at the white aura underneath the structures.

“I see it, too,” Allen replied with anxiety in his voice.

“They’re flowers,” Alvarez answered with an unexpected reverence.

The captain and the group all looked at Alvarez.

“Flowers in the Fringe?” Gray asked.

Allen eased into the accelerator and headed to the fallen slide piece.

“They grow out here. Usually in small patches,” Alvarez answered, remembering what his dad told him.

“Can’t worry about flowers right now, boys. You can pick some for your lady friends or for each other if you want when we’re done,” the Captain said, trying to get them to focus.

The captain, Gray and Alvarez quickly geared up and were ready as Allen brought the transport to an overly cautious stop.

“Alvarez on point, Allen you’re on six.” The captain checked his rifle and tucked a small walnut-sized Skynut drone into one of his vest pouches. Alvarez and Gray checked their rifles while Allen secured his helmet and pulled his pistol from a holster on the door.

The Captain looked around checking his team and saw that they were ready.

“Let’s move.”

The bright lights in the transport faded into a deep red glow as the doors opened. They all exited and quickly formed a fire-team line at the edge of the eight-foot-tall broken section of the water slide. Alvarez motioned for them to advance. They moved smoothly across the empty wading pool and after checking the other transport, and finding it locked, moved quickly to the broken wall. They stopped at the lobby, and as they were checking the corners of the room, they heard a faint banging coming from downstairs.

Alvarez looked around, quickly pointed down the stairwell and advanced with the rest of the team following closely behind. They made their way down the stairs and came to a long hallway. The banging started again, and this time it was much louder. Alvarez motioned for the team to hold, and after the banging stopped, proceeded down the corridor.

Alvarez slowly scanned the hallway with his gun-light. A system of pipes on the ceiling ran the length of the hall and then disappeared into the wall. Alvarez used his light to show everyone the black water on both sides of the cement walkway that also ran down the corridor. The walkway was narrow, and a couple of sections seemed to disappear in the water, but it was solid.