Wolves

SEVEN

The nightmare was just like the others. Michael was stumbling through the snowy wastelands in Hades. His lips and throat were dry from lack of water, but he couldn’t melt or drink the snow because of the radiation.

He pushed on, continuing his search for X. Ice framed his visor, narrowing his view of the frozen terrain. A line of tracks led into the city once called Chicago, a place of many scrapers. The colossal architecture continued to withstand the test of time.

Here, hell had literally frozen over.

Trapped in the nightmare, Michael slogged through his own personalized hell. The high-pitched electronic-like wails of the Sirens became a satanic chorus that followed him down empty streets and over wind-carved snowdrifts.

The tracks wound up and down the dunes, and the beacon on his HUD blinked with Xavier Rodriguez’s location, but every time he got close, the beacon would move.

“X!” Michael shouted. “X, where are you?”

In these dreams, the answer was always the same.

Over the howling wind, X would shout, “Stay away, Tin! This is not the life your father wanted for you!”

Michael would turn and turn, but the voice of X would echo off the frozen sides of buildings and fade away.

“Please, X, where are you?” Michael yelled back. “Let me help you!”

He continued his trek through the endless streets, his rifle at the ready, eyes sweeping constantly for hostiles.

The city continued producing the music of hell: clawed feet skittering over icy metal, the wailing of the Sirens, and the crash and clatter of structures finally giving way to Mother Nature.

Halfway through the dream, he would hear the worst of all the noises: a loud whap. Michael turned to see a Hell Diver lying in the middle of the street, its parachute luffing in the breeze. Jagged bones protruded from a semiliquid body held together only by armor and a hazard suit.

“I told you to stay away, Tin! Don’t come after me or you’ll end up like him!”

Michael looked skyward to see X ascending by helium balloon toward the storm clouds. He would scream and scream, and then Michael would realize it was he himself screaming and not X.

His eyes flitted back to the dead diver, and his gun went up at the sight of a horde of Sirens bounding up the street to consume the corpse of the deceased diver—Michael’s father.

Their leathery muscles stretched as the monsters pulled Aaron apart, limb by limb, their shrieks piercing the night.

Michael aimed and pulled the trigger, but his rifle wouldn’t fire. When the Sirens were done with his dad, they would come for him, and every time they were just about to sink their claws into his flesh, he would jerk awake, covered in sweat and sucking in air for another scream.

This time, though, he caught himself and didn’t wake Layla. She was apparently still exhausted from last night. Even the thought of their sweaty bodies and her moans of pleasure was not enough to dispel the horrid images in his mind.

Michael pulled the covers off to cool his hot skin, exposing Layla’s naked body as he did so. He gently pulled the sheet back up over her breasts, and for a moment he just watched her sleep: studying her freckled face, full lips, and eyelids quivering in REM sleep.

I hope you’re dreaming of something beautiful.

He let out a low sigh, careful not to wake Layla. Weeks had passed since Michael slept through the night, and it wasn’t for lack of exhaustion. Three jobs and a rigorous schedule had him falling into bed at night and passing out almost at once. The problem was staying asleep. The nightmares were getting worse.

And now the fatigue was starting to eat at him during the day, sparking the anger problem from his youth. He was always on edge and always a hair trigger away from anger.

“That’s creepy, Tin,” Layla whispered, opening one eye and looking over at him. “You know I don’t like it when you watch me sleep.”

“Sorry,” he said, turning onto his back. The alarm clock went off a moment later, and the wall-mounted screen warmed to life, projecting the image of the sun to represent a phenomenon that had once helped humans awaken in the morning. The mythical image did little to stir him awake at the early hour. He was wiped out.

“What time is it?” Layla mumbled.

“Six, and I’ve got to get up.”

“What? Why?” She sat up and looked at the clock, then back to him. “I thought you weren’t going to the farm today.”

“I’m not…”

Layla rubbed her eyes. “So where are you going?”

“To help train the new divers, remember?”

“Oh, yeah…” She smiled seductively at him. “Was last night a dream, by the way?”

Michael grinned back, his cheeks warming. “I’m pretty sure that was real.”

“And it was ama-a-a-a-zing.”

“Yeah.”

“‘Yeah’?” Now both brows went up. “All I get is a ‘yeah’?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just…”

Layla snuggled closer and put a hand on his arm. “What, Michael? Tell me.”

“It’s X. I just can’t stop thinking about him. I’ve been having bad dreams all night. Slept like crap.”

“Again?”

He nodded.

She kissed him on the cheek and then nestled her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

Feeling anxious, he pulled away and swung his legs out of bed, leaving her lying there half naked and staring at him in the dim lighting.

“There is something I can do. Something we can do. We can start training the new divers so that when we do find X, we can help.”

Layla patted the bed where he had just been lying beside her. He knew what was coming, and he didn’t want to hear it.

“I really want to get going. Feel free to join me later.”

She frowned, eyes flitting downward and then up again. “Michael, I love you, and that’s why you need to listen to me. Don’t you remember what X told you about coming after him?”

“Of course I do,” he snapped. “But if he needs my help, I’m going after him.” He didn’t bother telling her about the nightmare that had startled him awake. Seeing his dead father and X in Hades had reminded him what was at stake and how precious life was.

“I lost my dad a decade ago, and I also lost X for those ten years since then. Now I’m afraid I’m going to lose X again. But honestly, what hurts even more is that he had seemed okay with that when he left.”

“Oh, Michael. He didn’t leave because of you. He left because this no longer felt like home to him. Deep down, I believe he was too selfless to ask you to go with. He wanted you to stay here and live out your life, with the hope that someday you two might be reunited.”

“Maybe,” Michael replied. He thought back to their final moments in the launch bay of Deliverance, right before they dropped the Sea Wolf into the ocean.

“You remind me of your dad,” X had said with a smile. “He’d be very proud of you. As I am.”

Why didn’t you say something, then?

Michael wagged his head. “I don’t know. I just don’t know what the right thing is anymore.”

He threw on his uniform, the fog of sleep banished by the wave of anxiety born of regret.

“Ugh, I wanted to sleep in for once, but you’re not giving me much choice, are you, Tin?”

The wall monitor buzzed before he could respond, and a voice crackled from the speakers.

“Commander Everhart, are you in your quarters?”

Michael, his foot halfway into a pant leg, hopped over to the monitor and pushed the comm button. “Roger, I’m here.”

“This is Ensign White. The captain is requesting your presence on the bridge of Deliverance as soon as possible.”

“On my way,” Michael said.

“Bring Layla,” Bronson White added. “She’s going to want to hear this.”

Katrina stroked her jaw, trying to listen to the scrambled transmission from Magnolia. Ensign Ada Winslow, seated in front of the radio equipment, was working to stabilize the signal.

“Almost got it,” she said.

The beeps and background noise of other conversations and automated messages filled the room while they waited. Among them came a transmission from the Hive.

“Captain DaVita, this is Timothy Pepper. All systems operating at optimal levels. Next update in T minus two hours.”

“Roger that,” Katrina said.

“There… we… go,” Ada said.

Katrina gestured for Ensigns Bronson White and Dave Connor to turn their monitors down so she could hear. White noise, followed by Magnolia’s voice, filled the bridge.

“Miss Katib, this is Captain DaVita. Can you hear me?”

More static, followed by “Yes, I can. Finally!”

“Where are you?” Katrina asked.

“I’m trapped in a facility on an island. X is on his way back right now with Miles, but we’re surrounded.” She was talking fast, and the static interference didn’t make her any easier to understand.

An emergency siren wailed in the background. Katrina could hear that. And something else.

“What is that sound?” she asked.

“Hogs,” Magnolia replied.

“Please repeat?”

“Not like the kind we have on the Hive. Big pigs. With tusks.”

The doors to the bridge whisked open, and Katrina turned as Layla and Michael hurried inside.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked from across the space.

Magnolia relayed another message, answering his question. “I’ve been holed up here for a few hours after we got attacked. One of the vultures snatched Miles, and X went after him. Captain, I found something in the database here—something that you have to hear. It may help humanity.”

“Can you upload it and send it to us?” Katrina asked.

Layla and Michael crowded around the station.

“I’m working on sending this to you via satellite. I was able to hack into the computers here.”

Layla maneuvered up to the radio. “Mags, where are you, and what in the wastes is going on!”

“I’ve found something that explains what happened to the world. I haven’t been able to watch or listen to it all, but…” Magnolia’s voice crackled, masking the words with static.

“Where is my counterpart?” said another voice.

It was Timothy Pepper. His translucent hologram emerged next to the circular table in the center of the room.

“Better question is, where is X?” Michael said.
Katrina summoned her captain’s voice, which was firm and just shy of a shout so White would get it even with his bad hearing.

“Everyone, calm down.”

That did the trick for everyone except Magnolia. She continued speaking even faster than before. “I managed to get the satellite dish working here, but I’m not sure the radio I’m taking with me is going to work—assuming I get out of here alive, and assuming the Sea Wolf isn’t too far gone.”

“Slow down, Mags,” Katrina said, lowering her voice. “One thing at a time. Tell me what happened to the Sea Wolf.”

Michael stepped up next to Katrina. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with strands sticking out in various directions. Purple bags hung under his eyes. Typically, this would be a sign of drug or alcohol abuse, but she knew him better than that.

He was just exhausted.

“The Sea Wolf was damaged yesterday. We were attacked by a really big octopus—” Static again washed over the channel.

Layla looked to Katrina and said, “Did she say what I thought she did?”

Ada’s eyes widened. “What’s an octopus, and how big is a really big one?”

Not knowing how to answer, Katrina just said, “Magnolia, you’re breaking up again.”

“Our radio was destroyed, and we left the Sea Wolf to find parts on this island. But the boat is drifting back into the bay.”

Katrina wasn’t sure how much she had missed, but the last part gave her heart a stutter. “What do you mean, ‘drifting’?”

White noise covered Magnolia’s voice.

“Magnolia, do you copy?” Katrina asked.

A fleeting moment of silence held the bridge, the tension palpable.

“Hold on,” Magnolia suddenly said, her voice as clear as day.

In the backdrop, Katrina heard the same animal grunt she had heard before, and something like an animal digging.

“Shit… shit, shit,” Magnolia said quietly. “They’re almost inside.”

“Sirens?” Layla asked.

Michael’s face turned even paler. “This isn’t fucking happening. We have to do something.”

Katrina could sense his anger, but she didn’t like cursing on her bridge. She shot him a glance.

“The emergency sirens you’re hearing are from the facility, not the creatures,” Ada said.

“Mags, tell us what happened to the Sea Wolf,” Katrina said.

“I’m not sure. X just said it’s been swept back out into the bay. I’m not sure if Timothy is in control of the vessel.”

“That’s not good,” Layla whispered. “Is there a way we can contact Timothy?”

“My duplicate program would not abandon the divers,” the other Timothy said, his voice taking on a firm tone. “I am here to serve and help my human friends; so is my counterpart on the Sea Wolf.”

Michael turned to Dave Connor. “Ensign, can you get a lock on their location?”

“Already working on it, Commander,” Dave replied. He tabbed his navigation system on the screen, tapping his prosthetic leg on the deck as he worked.

“What happened to X?” Michael asked Katrina.

“I still don’t know, but we know he’s alive.”

Michael ran a hand over the back of his neck.

“Okay, done,” Magnolia said. “I’m uploading the data and sending it to you, Deliverance.”

There was another pause, then a shout, gunfire, and an anguished wail.

Ada looked away from the radio equipment, her dark face distraught. “Captain, would you like to take my place?”

Katrina nodded and took Ada’s chair, where she waited impatiently for Magnolia to respond.

“Mags,” Katrina said. “Mags, what is going on there?”

They could hear her breathing over the rise and fall of the siren, but she didn’t respond. The suspense left Katrina and everyone around her even more anxious.

Layla grabbed Michael’s hand. Bronson White balanced himself with a hand on the back of a chair. Ada put her hand over her chest.

Gunfire cracked over the channel and echoed through the bridge, followed by Magnolia’s frantic voice.

“Those things are almost inside. I’m sorry, I have to go and get ready for them.”

“Magnolia,” Katrina said. “Take care of yourself. You have lot of people up here counting on you two.”

“We know, and thanks for reminding us,” Magnolia replied.

Katrina smirked at that. If Mags could joke, she could also fight.

Guttural snorting then gunfire came over the channel. Then static.

Katrina got up and motioned for Ada, who moved over to check the radio. She twisted the knob and then shook her head. “We lost her.”

“Lower the volume,” Katrina said.

Ada did as ordered, and silence fell over the bridge. Timothy’s hologram moved over beside Michael, and everyone including the AI looked to Katrina for orders.

A monitor beeped, and Ensign White, hunched over, walked to his station. “I just received the upload from Magnolia.”

“Download it and let me know when it’s ready,” Katrina said. She glanced over at Connor. “Ensign, were you able to pinpoint their location?”

“Yes, Captain. They seem to be stranded in a bay that is part of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Bringing it up on the main screen now.”

“Good,” Katrina said. “Update our current map of their journey.”

The hatch to the bridge opened again, this time disgorging Les Mitchells’ tall, gangly frame. He ducked below the overhead, stopping just inside the room. He looked to Layla and Michael, then to Katrina.

“I’ve got the recruits Sergeant Sloan gave us waiting in the launch bay. I thought Commander Everhart and…” His words trailed off as he scanned the assembled faces. “Okay, what did I miss?”

Magnolia suppressed thoughts of her family and friends aboard the airships. They knew she was alive, and she had successfully sent the upload, but if the Sea Wolf really had sailed away, then she would never see them again.

How the hell had the boat ended up back in the bay? The question wracked her brain, but she pushed it aside for now. The best way to stay calm right now was to trust that Timothy wouldn’t abandon them.

For the past hour, she had sat at the desk next to the skeletal corpse, worrying about X and Miles as she scanned hard drives. The hogs from hell were literally at the door, pawing, pounding, trying to bash their way inside. It was nerve-racking, but so far, the hatches, door, and debris pile were still holding them back.

Every few minutes, she had been firing a few shots into the wall to deter the tunneling, and she was about to do it again. Another option kept tempting her, though.

Her eyes went to the switch that activated the emergency siren. If she shut it off, maybe the beasts would scatter back into the jungle.

Or they might go after X and Miles…

She opted to keep the siren blaring while she finished gathering up the rest of the equipment in the expandable duffel bag she had stuffed into her cargo pocket.

The banging and scratching at the main entrance made it hard to focus. She knew what those tusks and hooves would do to her flesh. But so far, the door and window hatches were holding the monsters back. It was the one burrowing into the control room that had her worried. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one.

The spider that had taken refuge in the concrete rubble reemerged, furry legs scuttling toward Magnolia.

She stomped it into mush under her boot, then scraped the sole against the concrete, leaving a trail of goo.

“Gross,” she whispered, bringing her rifle up to her shoulder. She aimed at the collapsed wall, waiting for the real monster to present a target.

The chunks in the bottom right of the rubble pile were starting to move. She could hear the rapid breathing coming from below.

“Kid, do you copy?” X said.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, copy. Where are you?”

“Almost back. Sit tight, kid.”

Easy for you to say…

Still, if she couldn’t sit tight, she could at least stop screwing up. She finished loading the rest of the radio equipment but left her battery unit plugged in to keep the emergency siren going.

Hunching down, she aimed the rifle at the rattling hunks of wall where the hog was digging.

“Come on, show me an inch of that ugly mug,” she said.

The creature out there was digging harder now, knocking several rocks loose from the wall. One dislodged; then a second hit her in the shoulder.

She tried to back up, but fell on her butt just as the deformed face she had taunted earlier filled the opening. The jaw parted, a rope of saliva drooping between tusks.

The beast snapped at her right boot, but she pulled back just in time to keep her foot. Lining up a shot, she pulled the trigger and heard the click of a jammed round.

So much for not screwing up. She just couldn’t catch a break.

Magnolia scrambled for safety as the creature fought to get free of the hole. By the time she made it back to the entryway, the front legs and shoulders were through the broken wall. The furry, slavering abomination swung its massive head, shaking rocks and dirt loose. It had to weigh over three hundred pounds, and the fur covering its thick hide seemed to be metallic.

She went to close the door between herself and the beast, then saw the loaded duffel bag lying next to the radio equipment. Her spare battery unit was still plugged in to the dashboard. She could see only two options, both of them crazy. One, free the jammed round and blast this fucker, or two, snatch the bag and battery and then run into the other room. Either action required more time than she had, and every second of delay worsened the odds against her.

The thud of bone on the front door helped her decide. The only way out of this was to fight, not hide and wait for X to save her ass.

Magnolia pulled the curved blades from her back.

“Okay, shithead,” she growled. “You’re gonna have to work for your supper.”

The hog snapped at her, slinging snot and spittle. It struggled to free its muscular torso and haunches, which were still jammed in the hole it had dug.

Magnolia danced around the kick of a foreleg and another thrust of the head. She kicked the warty pink muzzle with her steel-toed boot, and it felt like kicking a rock.

The impact forced her backward, pain racing up her leg. She planted her left foot and brought her blades down at the same time, aiming for the thick neck, hoping to behead the monster.

Her blades scraped against what felt like sheet metal. In the amount of time it took her to bring them down on the neck, the fur had gone stiff and lain flat, forming a sheet of armor that sent sparks flying, and a stinging recoil that raced up her forearms.

She stumbled backward a second time, staring at the chipped blades in her hands. The sound of falling rubble brought her eyes up as the beast hauled its body free and lumbered out of the hole.

Magnolia backed up until she hit a wall. She raised the damaged blades as the monster gave out a deep animal rumble. Now she got her first good look at the full length of the creature, including the other side of a face missing an eyeball and half a tusk.

The saggy lips drooled more saliva mixed with blood.

This was the creature X had shot earlier, and judging by the glare of its remaining eye, it wanted payback.

She tried to block out the sounds of the other hogs, the emergency siren, and a new message from X and focus on what she could do right now.

Once again she had her back to the wall because of her own stupid mistakes, and this time she was going to get exactly one more shot at saving herself.

It came a second later.

As the beast lunged, Magnolia flattened her body against the wall and moved to the side while swinging the blade in her left hand sideways. The tip caught in the ruined eye socket.

The hog missed its target—her chest—and the snout slammed into the wall where she had stood. She darted backward, ducking low as it twisted to snap at her. She came up swinging at the closest target: the monster’s right hind leg, beneath the fur line. This time, the sharp edge sliced through the sinew and caught on bone.

The hog let out a long, piercing howl of pain.

She pulled the blade free, blood spattering the floor. Another hack cut deep into the bone. The beast had sidled away by the time she sliced the air a third time. Its tail and hindquarters slammed into the desks and computer equipment, knocking her battery loose.

The emergency siren waned and faded to nothing, leaving Magnolia with the sound of the panting creature and her own labored breath.

This was it, her final moments.

The right hind leg gushed blood, but it managed to remain standing. This beast was one of the most magnificent products of evolution she had ever seen. A shame it had to die.

As it charged, she pulled the blaster from her holster and waited a beat until she had the face in her sights. Both shotgun shells fired, their pattern covering the entire head.

Blood, bone, brain, and pieces of the blade stuck in the eye socket cut through the air, flecking the desks with gore. She jumped out of the way as the creature hit the floor.

Magnolia checked the blade. A glance confirmed what she already knew: it was ruined. She quickly moved away and gathered the duffel bag of equipment, stashing her battery unit inside.

Gunfire cracked outside the facility. She picked up her rifle, worked the jammed round free and pocketed it, and ran out to the other room to unlock the door and help X.

She stepped out into the night, weapon sweeping the field for contacts. Insects chirped, and the screech of a vulture echoed in the distance.

Another flurry of shots drowned out the noises, and she followed it to the other side of the building, moving cautiously.

Heel to toe, heel to toe. Just like a soldier. No more mistakes.

Hearing a bark, she moved faster, fighting the impulse to run.

She paused at the crumbling foundation of the building to listen, then peeked around the edge to sneak a glimpse. X stood in the other field over a carcass. Miles turned in her direction, but she was tracking movement in the high weeds and foliage fifty feet from the dog.

Bringing up her rifle, she zoomed in on the ripple spreading across the top of the weeds. This wasn’t from the breeze.

The camouflaged beast bounded out and bolted for X, who still hadn’t seen it. There was no time to shout a warning—only enough time to get off a three-round burst.

The charging monster, dead on its feet, slammed into X and Miles, knocking them down like skittles.

Magnolia was running as soon as she finished firing. Her eyes swept the skyline for vultures and the field for more terrestrial predators, then back to X and Miles. When she got there, X was groaning under the weight of the dead hog. Miles was already up, tail wagging beneath the suit, which had bloody talon marks on the side.

“Nice shot, Mags,” X growled.

“No ‘thanks, kid’?” she asked.

Reaching down, she grabbed X and helped hoist him to his feet.

“Now, come on, old man. Let’s see if we can still chase down our boat and get off this nasty island.”