Machines of the Dead

Chapter 17

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.

Zaun grabbed Jack’s arms, and looked him in the eyes. “You remember why we’re here? What we have to do in order to get our asses out of here?”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, just let me get cleaned up.”

“Make it fast, we have to go.”

He hurried to Chambers’ bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he felt his stomach churn. His heart was beating fast, too fast. He needed to puke. Leaning over the toilet bowl, he hurled. He felt better. Back at the sink, he washed Chambers’ blood from his hands and face, then ran his jacket under the shower for a minute, getting it as clean as possible.

“I’m fine now,” he said, walking back into the room.

“Good,” Zaun said. “I didn’t enjoy killing him. I’d rather have tied the bastard up and left him here, but I didn’t survive all those days in my apartment, for you to risk your life rescuing me, only to be tortured to death. We’re getting out of here, Jack.”

“Hold on,” Jack said, then walked over to where a jacket was hanging up on a coat rack. Under the garment was a gun harness with a sidearm attached. Removing the piece, Jack saw that it was a Desert Eagle. 44 magnum, a powerful handgun. He ejected the clip, saw that it was loaded, then popped it back in and racked the slide, sending a bullet into the chamber. Taking off his wet jacket, he slid into Chambers’ harness and replaced the gun to the holster, before putting his jacket back on.

“Jack,” Zaun said, “you going to be able to use that?”

“I’ll be fine. It’s us or them, right?”

Zaun smiled. “Right.”

They left Chambers’ room, heading to Reynolds’ place, when someone yelled from behind.

Both men turned around and Jack was glad he decided to zip up his coat.

“Where are you two headed?” the guard asked. Jack recognized the man; name was Jacob, Ron Jacob, but had never spoken to him. The one time Jack did try talking to him, the guy said he was busy and for Jack to move along. Jack thought he was an asshole, but that didn’t mean he deserved to die. Then again, maybe he did. He was a high-ranking guard, always with Chambers and the others.

The man came closer, an M4 machine gun in his hands, but pointed at the floor. “Is that blood?” the man asked.

Jack turned to see that Zaun hadn’t cleaned the blood very well from himself, a bit showing on his sleeves and neck. He closed his eyes, furious with himself for not making sure they looked okay. If they made it passed this guard, they would both need to be more aware of such things.

“I’m hurt,” Zaun said, holding his side.

The guard looked Zaun up and down. “I’ll alert Doc Fredrich; take you to his office.”

Jack thought it odd that the man didn’t ask how hurt Zaun was or how Zaun became injured. Maybe he didn’t care or maybe he figured if Zaun was standing, walking, the injury was minor.

“We can’t let him take us there, Jack,” Zaun whispered as he leaned on his friend’s shoulder, faking a grimace. “You’ve got to take him out.”

Keeping his right hand on the trigger, the guard reached for his radio with the other.

Jack pulled the. 44 from his coat and pointed it at the guard. “Don’t,” he said.

“What the fuck are you doing?” the guard barked.

“We just want to leave,” Jack said. “Drop the weapon and turn around, hands against the wall.”

“Fuck you,” the man said, and went to raise his weapon.

Jack pulled the trigger. The gun erupted, the retort loud in the hallway. A small hole appeared in the man’s forehead before he collapsed backward to the floor.

“Damn it,” Jack hollered, lowering the weapon.

Zaun ran over and scooped up the machine gun, then grabbed the dead man’s Taser and sidearm. He tossed the man’s radio to Jack, then the Taser. Jack stuffed both items into his jacket pockets.

“Can we use these?” Zaun, said, holding up a bunch of zip-ties.

“We’ll need them for Reynolds.”

Zaun stuffed the ties into one of his pockets.

Jack stared at the dead man. He thought he would feel terrible, shaky, but he felt nothing.

“We have to move, Jack. I’m sure someone heard the shot.”

They walked quickly down the hall, making sure not to run in case they bumped into another guard. When they reached Reynolds’ door, Zaun stood off to the right of it, hiding the machine gun from view.

Jack raised his arm to knock when an alarm sounded.

“Guess someone found the body in the hall,” Zaun said.

“No,” Jack said, pounding his fist against the door. “Right here.” He pointed up, indicating a small red lens just above the doorframe. Reynolds had a security camera allowing him to see who was outside his door. “He must have seen you with the machine gun and hit the alarm.”

Jack began kicking the door, trying to break in, but the thing was solid. He needed to destroy the lock. Pulling out the. 44 magnum, he told Zaun to back away, and fired at the mechanism. The bullet turned the cylinder into a twisted mash of metal. Jack began kicking at the door again, the thing loosening up.

“Security’s been alerted, Jack,” Reynolds said, his voice coming from the small intercom outside the door.

Zaun joined in as both men kicked at the door until it finally flew inward.

Gunshots rang out, the bullets whizzing passed Jack’s head.

Zaun reached around the doorway and fired his machine gun.

“What are you doing?” Jack asked, incredulously. “We need him alive.”

“Sorry, it’s just when someone’s shooting at me, I tend to shoot back.”

More shots came from Reynolds’ room, the bullets ricocheting off the doorframe.

“Well, at least he’s still alive,” Zaun said.

“We only want the keycard so we can leave this place,” Jack yelled, lying to Reynolds.

More shots rang out, hitting the doorframe and sending splinters of wood into the air.

“We’ve got to go in and get this guy,” Zaun said. “Any minute we could have armed men bearing down on us.”

“We’re coming in, Reynolds. Throw down your weapon or we’ll be forced to shoot.”

Jack waited. Nothing happened. No gunshots; no response.

He bent low, gun at the ready, and peered into the room. Reynolds wasn’t in his line of sight. Inching out a little farther, he was able to scan most of the room, no sign of the man. Reynolds could be in the bathroom or hiding behind the door.

“Watch my back,” Jack said. “Keep your eyes on the hall that leads to the bathroom.”

He went low, sliding along the floor into the room and had his gun pointing behind the door in seconds. The area was clear. He got to his feet and saw Zaun aiming his gun toward the bathroom.

Jack shut the room’s door.

Looking around, he saw there was no place for Reynolds to have hidden. The faux fireplace blazed away and an empty bottle of brandy was sitting on a small table in front of it.

Jack went over to the bathroom and kicked in the door, making sure to be out of the line of fire. When nothing happened, he peered into the lavatory and found it empty. Where the hell had Reynolds gone?

He walked back into the living room portion of the tiny apartment, picked up the empty bottle, and threw it against the wall. The glass shattered into tiny shards.

“Feel better?” Zaun asked.

Jack ignored his friend. Reynolds had an escape tunnel leading from the room. It was the only explanation for the man’s disappearance. The guy was probably in another part of the facility by now, arming himself or gathering infantry.

“He’s gone, Jack. Must’ve had a way out. A secret door or something. I don’t know if you want to try and find it or not, but we have to do something. We’re going to have company real soon. I say we head for his office and hope for the best.”

Zaun was right, but any hope of escaping just went from good to terrible. Without Reynolds as a hostage, they had no leverage. It would be a number of armed guards against a few fools. It couldn’t end like this. Jack looked around the room, searching for an answer as to the doc’s whereabouts. Then it hit him. He snapped his fingers, catching Zaun’s attention, then pointed to the bookcase.

Zaun nodded, then raised his weapon.

“Come out from behind there or my friend is going to start shooting at it. He’s itching to kill someone, especially you. All we want is the keycard so we can get our butts out of here.”

Zaun fired a shot high, the bullet dislodging a book, sending its torn remains to the floor.

The bookcase clicked, then slid sideways, revealing Reynolds, standing in a small room. A Glock was resting on the floor at his feet.

“Kick the gun over here,” Jack said, and Reynolds did. He picked it up, and placed it into a pocket.

“Now get out of there,” Jack ordered, keeping his gun aimed at the man.

“You’re crazy, Jack,” Reynolds said. “After everything I did for you; gave you. And this is how you repay me?”

“Cut the bullshit. We know what you’ve been up to; how you’re using people, killing them.”

“They were homeless drug addicts. They would’ve died on the streets or hurt someone. They were doing nothing for society. I gave them a way to contribute.”

Zaun stepped forward and knocked the butt of his gun into the man’s head. Reynolds staggered back, holding a hand to his temple. Blood trickled from between his fingers.

“I say we shoot the bastard right here.” Zaun pressed the muzzle of his weapon to the man’s head.

Hands up and out, the doc backed up a step. “Don’t do anything stupid. You’re under a lot of stress. You’ve been cooped up to long and aren’t thinking clearly. And Jack, you’ve suffered a great deal. Stop this madness before someone gets hurt.”

“Sure, Doc,” Jack said. “We’ll put down our weapons and surrender, so you can stick us in C-Wing and fill us with bots.”

“You need me alive,” Reynolds said, “or they’ll cut you two to shreds.”

“Don’t we know it,” Zaun said. “That’s why you’re coming with us.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the escape tunnel; to freedom, and away from you,” Jack said.

Reynolds started laughing. “Leaving here isn’t going to happen, Jack. And it’d be a big mistake to do so.”

“Jack,” Zaun fumed, “this guy’s really pissing me off. Can we please get the hell out of here?”

Jack told Reynolds to turn around and place his hands behind his back. Zaun handed him a zip-tie and Jack slid the plastic cuff over the doctor’s wrists, securing them tightly.

“Fuck me,” Zaun said, as he headed over to Reynolds’ hideout. “Piece-of-shit had my sword.”

“A fine piece of craftsmanship,” Reynolds told him.

“We can add thief to all the other things you are.” Zaun picked up his baby. He checked the blade. Appearing satisfied, he sheathed it, then tucked it between his hip and belt. Using the small pieces of fabric attached to the sheath, he tied the weapon in place. “I would’ve been uber pissed if we got to the armory and it wasn’t there. You’re a lucky son of a bitch, Doc.”

Jack was beginning to wonder if his friend, who had always been a bit ‘odd,’ had gone a little off the deep end. Zaun had spent a lot of time alone in his apartment. He guessed the guy was as frightened and nervous as he was, trying his best not to flip out.

They exited the room and were heading down the hall, on their way to the weapons store, when Jack saw a group of guards heading their way. Kevin and Guard Lopez at the front, machine guns pointed at their backs.

“Tell your men to put down their weapons,” Jack ordered Reynolds, “and release Meyers and Lopez.”

“Jack,” Reynolds responded. “Before you go down this path, and I see you’ve gotten others to join you, think about what you are doing.”

“I have,” he said, pressing the. 44’s barrel to the back of Reynolds’ skull. “Now tell them.”

When Reynolds said nothing, Jack cracked the man in the side of his head with the gun-Reynolds’ crying out-then returned the weapon to the back of the man’s head. “Call. Them. Off.”

“You’re going to regret this, Jack.”

Zaun stepped forward, steak knife in hand, and put the blade’s tip just under Reynolds’ right eye. The man winced. “We don’t have to kill you. We can maim you, keeping you alive just enough to get what we want.”

The guards were just down the hall. Their weapons remained pointed at both Kevin and Lopez, whose faces were bloodied and bruised. Jack thought it lucky they were still alive, and probably the only reason being was that the doc needed subjects.

“Last time I’m going to ask,” Jack said, “and then my friend pokes out an eye.”

Jack wanted Zaun behind him, in case one of the guards thought he could get off a shot, but liked them seeing Reynolds surrounded by gun and bladed implement.

“Lower your weapons,” Reynolds finally said.

The guards remained as they were for a moment, until the one behind Lopez shoved her forward. He placed his sidearm against her head. “Lower your weapons and release the doctor. You have until the count of three, or she dies.”

Zaun turned, and threw the knife at the guard, hitting the man in his throat.

The man dropped his gun and stumbled backward, holding his throat, complete and utter shock on his face. One of the other guards went to help him, but Reynolds spoke up.

“Leave him; he’s already dead.”

Everyone watched as the guard pulled the knife from his neck, then fell to the floor, blood continuing to gush, leaving streaks and puddles everywhere. Desperation filled the man’s face as he tried crawling forward, his doom imminent.

Jack pointed the. 44 at the man and put a bullet into his head, the guard’s body going limp.

The others appeared stunned, staring at their dead comrade as blood pooled around him.

Jack returned his gun to Reynolds’ head, his hand shaking slightly.

The guards’ demeanor began to change, from astonishment to anger.

“Get behind me,” he whispered to Zaun, and his friend did, readying his M4.

The guards looked enraged. Behind the muzzles of their guns, Jack could see the hate in their eyes.

“Drop your weapons,” Reynolds said, his voice taking on a heavy, authoritative tone. “The man is dead because he didn’t obey a direct order.”

Jack began to worry the others wouldn’t either; that they’d seen one of their own killed, and would want revenge, but his worries were squashed as the men laid down their arms.

“Kevin,” Jack asked, “you guys all right?” The kid nodded. “We’re a little banged up is all.”

“Fucking traitors,” one of the guards said.

“Tell your men to back away,” Jack demanded, fearing that not all was okay yet.

Reynolds complied, ordering his men back.

“Grab the weapons and a radio, then get over here,” Jack said.

When Kevin and Lopez were out of harm’s way, Jack had Reynolds make an announcement over the walkie. The man ordered his staff to stand down and to let Jack and the others pass without hindrance. If they complied, no harm would befall him.

The guards were cuffed, using their own zip-ties, and shoved into a room where they were ordered by Reynolds to remain until told otherwise. Jack didn’t imagine the guards staying tied up for long, but anything to slow them down and keep them from causing trouble was a good thing.

When all was said and done, Jack and the others had quite a little arsenal: two more M4 machine guns with an extra magazine each; two more 9mm Glock 21’s with an extra clip each; and three Tasers.

Jack took out the Glock he’d taken from Reynolds and popped in a fresh clip, the old one feeling rather light. Now he had the. 44 magnum, the Glock 9mm, which he returned to his waist, and a T aser. Zaun had his sword, a Glock, and a machine gun. Kevin took one of the machine guns, an extra magazine and one of the Glocks. Lopez, who said to call her Maria, had a machine gun, a sidearm, a Taser, and a few extra clips for the guns.

The group moved easily down the halls, using the stairs, not wanting to take the chance of getting trapped in the elevator. For all Jack knew, the thing had security features, like a sleeping agent that could be released when undesirables were inside.

Just outside Reynolds’ office was the weapons store and down the hall from that was C-Wing. If the weapons store hadn’t been on the way, Jack thought they might’ve skipped it entirely, especially with them being so well-armed now. But since it was on the way, why not check it out, and at least stock up, leaving less for Reynolds’ men.

Using Reynolds’ keycard-Chambers’ in his pocket-Jack unlocked the arsenal. The room wasn’t very wide, and was as deep as an oversized walk-in closet. He kept an eye on Reynolds and the hallway while the others went in and further armed themselves.

Zaun came out quickly, holding Jack’s shotgun and ammo belt, still filled with shells. “Thought you might want these back,” he said. Jack took the gun, admired it for a moment, then shouldered the weapon. “And these,” Zaun continued, producing and proffering to Jack the Sig Sauer and his. 45 caliber Smith and Wesson. Jack smiled as he took the guns. Both were loaded.

“Rifle’s in there too,” Zaun told him, “if you want it.”

Zaun took over watch of Reynolds and the hallway as Jack entered the room, Kevin and Maria passing him by on their way out.

Jack looked around the armory. Ten M4 machine guns rested against the wall on his right; crates of magazines below. On the far wall were eight Glock 21’s. Boxes of varying ammo filled the shelves on the left, along with Tasers and Taser re-loads, gas masks, flash-bang grenades, mini attachable gun lights, and flashlights. He grabbed a couple of clips for the Glock, found a box of. 45 shells, took two flash-bang grenades and headed out.

Jack asked if everyone was good before closing the weapons room door. Everyone had taken a couple flash-bang grenades, Maria explaining how to use them, informing Jack and Zaun that they were designed to disorient a person, everything from temporary blindness to hearing loss. When used, it was a good idea to close one’s eyes and cover one’s ears.

“Does anyone else have access to this room?” Jack asked.

“I know the Doc and Chambers did. Not sure about any others,” Maria answered.

“Me either,” Kevin echoed.

“Well?” Jack asked Reynolds.

“Only two others have access cards to the arsenal.”

“Doesn’t matter; as long as we have this asshole,” Zaun said, nudging Reynolds, “we’ll be fine.”