Chapter 9

(Author's Note: HEAVENS. This is the longest effing chapter. I'm sorry this took so long, I kept feeling like I was close to finishing it for weeks. Like the NIL's, this was the chapter that would not end. Tons happen, and I STILL haven't gotten to the truly important part. o.o Hopefully this doesn't drag too much. Thank you for waiting. Enjoy.)


~~~
The body was hunched, slouched, a head too small sunk onto a huge set of shoulders. A mouth filled with needle-like fangs made the mouth impossible to close. A pair of wicked tusks jutted out from the top jaw. Tiny black eyes, barely visible under a thin membrane, did not move, though the head twisted from side to side, following the torn over-sized ears to distinguish signals coming over the dunes.
In theory, at one time, its ancestors had been classified as human, but generations of harsh desert life, close to the Death Winds' crevices had generated new traits for survival. Now, few characteristics bespoke even a shred of humanity, save a scraggy beard that would look more fitting on a goat than anything else.
On these sands, they feared nothing. And they were hungry, tired of feeding on the rotten flesh of zombies and non-moving carcasses. And the sounds from the metal rocks promised food.
If only they could locate it.
~~

People lined the wall, some armed with rifles, others with little more than sharpened picks.
“How many of you are there?” Denisovich asked, as she was shoved forward, her arms still chained behind her.
“Hundreds,” one of her guards answered, clearly unafraid.
“You all live underground?”
“It's the only way to be safe from the gases and keep ourselves pure.”
“With all this talk of “purity”, I'm amazed you're not all a bunch of inbred dredges.” The quip earned her a rock to the back of the head, but she didn't slow. Her guard seemed more than happy to continue talking.
“Nope, Kalten makes sure. He studies the Family Trees and determines who will mate with whom.”
Well, at least my plan to be nonthreatening seems to be working, Denisovich thought as the guard rambled on about the lack of disease or malformations among the Sons of Adam that the surface people dealt with. The air was beginning to feel even more oppressive, the smells stronger. Having trotted her out in front of the entire population, Kalten and his cronies were ready to tell her how to “help” them.
In a separate cavern, past a sign which warned against entering, Denisovich spied a whole in a far wall.
Without warning, they shoved her in, and ordered her forward. She heard movement coming from inside the hole, along with the tell-tale sounds of machinery.
“Hello?” she called. She was just along the side of the hole now, able to distinguish several sounds, including one that resembled dust being blown through a ventilator.
“I am Lacrymosa Denisovich of the House of Atreus. I mean no harm.”
A very quiet voice answered.
“Enter.”
A piece of the wall, including the hole, collapsed into a pile of dirt, moss and rubble. She heard murmuring behind her, the humans deciding what to do, but they offered her no advice. Waving a hand in front of her face to clear the dust, she walked into the stone antechamber.
Immediately, a gun was pressed against her temple, a tiny red light directed into her right iris. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Again, a hand pulled her head to one side to look behind her ear and the tattoo which marked her as a child born Before Outbreak. Just as suddenly, the gun was pulled off and soft light filled the room. Denisovich's gaze took in a computer, filing sheets of sensory information, cameras and other sensors, all of which were covered in a thick layer of dust. In the corner, a figure stood, head bowed.
“Forgive me, lady,” it spoke, in a sincere voice, but one which resembled a child's to the point of impossible gender identification. The mystery was no more solved as the figure raised its head. Dark brown hair, with a touch of auburn, cut in layers down to the shoulder waved enough to frame a face delicate without being effeminate. Eyes so light as to be almost clear stared at her with no apparent emotion.
“Identify yourself,” Denisovich commanded.
“Yes, lady. I am Zirconian-series Insurgency Repulsion Operations.”
Again, Denisovich found herself blinking in surprise.
“ZIRO?” she queried. The android cocked its head to one side.
“If you like.”
Denisovich glanced around again.
“How long have you been down here?” she continued. Ziro blinked, its computer mind calculating.
“Judging by the depletion of my batteries, I would estimate I have been here for 312 years, 2 months, 25 days, 21 hours and 17 minutes.”
Denisovich leaned against a wall.
“Three hundred years? You've been down here for three hundred years?”
Instead of answering, Ziro noticed her chains for the first time.
“Lady, if I may be so insolent...why are you bound?”
“Atrean!” she heard Mercer call. “We're coming in, tell the systems operator to stand down.”
Denisovich stepped toward Ziro, who ignored Mercer, as if it had heard nothing. She kept her voice low, but spoke quickly.
“Ziro, this is very important. What are you guarding? Is it a weapon?”
Ziro shook its head.
“I'm sorry, lady, I don't know what it is. They didn't tell me when I was assigned here. As you can see, there are weapons here, some gold too, but I don't know what it's for.”
Denisovich nodded.
“There will be men. Human men. They will take the weapons. You are not to speak, under any circumstances. Don't fire on them, do you understand?”
The android nodded. Denisovich looked it over once more. It wore a short jacket of red over a loose shirt tucked into place pants. A silver metal receiver rose out of its head for several inches. Evidence of decay showed on its hands, but otherwise, it was quite pleasant looking; aestheticism plus practicality was something Atrean Techniks prided themselves on.
Kalten, Mercer and a handful of others appeared in the doorway. She stepped in front of Ziro as she saw them lift their semi-automatic rifles.
“Don't fire!” she yelled. “It's rigged. You destroy it, the whole place could come down right on our heads. You have what you wanted, just take it.”
Kalten gazed appreciatively at the guns, bombs and other weaponry strewn around. He motioned for the men to pick it up. Meanwhile, Mercer had yet to take his gun off of Denisovich. She noted how much more intent and focused his eyes looked, how much more determined than Marek ever seemed, even if it was just an affectation. The questions gnawed at her mind, but there was no time for interrogation now.
When Kalten looked at her again, Denisovich's stomach turned. He had never seen her as anything more than a key, and now that the door was open, he had no need for her. She tensed, ready to dive if he gave the order to fire, but before any such thing could be spoken, a cry went up from elsewhere in the cave. Everyone rushed out to find the Sons of Adam in frantic commotion.
“What? What is it?” Kalten called out, his hand hovering near a sidearm pistol.
“It's...it's a Squee stampede, sir!” the woman called Zia responded, her eyes wide with shock. Kalten looked at Mercer, puzzled. As the others pushed themselves against walls and behind rock structures, a rumble could be heard. Sure enough, a mass of bodies, flesh white and spotted, writhed and climbed over itself, letting out the high pitched squeaks which had earned them their name.
Denisovich took advantage of he distraction by backing into the anteroom.
“Ziro, can you get these off me?” she whispered. The android peered into the lock. Satisfied that it had all the information it needed, the security droid picked up a piece of scrap metal which had been destroyed by the Sons of Adam initial attempts at entry. Bending it with minuscule detail, it jammed the improvised key into the lock and turned. The cuffs thudded as they hit the ground. The android stared at them blankly for a moment.
“I do not understand human obsession with these archaic forms of binding.”
“Stay close to me,” Denisovich cut in, “I'm going to make sure you get out of here.”
Straddling the wall, Denisovich was struck by something no one else seemed to be noticing.
“Ziro, do they look like they're in a hurry to get somewhere?” she asked quietly, though she already knew the answer.
“No, mistress, it appears that they are running away from something.”
Denisovich stared deep into the tunnel the Squees fled from, but everyone heard the growls at the same time. They were animal, chilling the blood. The lumbered forward impossibly fast, legs crouched so their knees were by their head, carried along by powerful primate arms. A few already had bloodstains around their mouth, several carried the lifeless bodies or limbs of Squees. Seeing new prey, they snarled, saliva pooling from their jaws.
“What the hell are those things?” someone screamed.
“It doesn't matter, just fire!” Kalten ordered, and all people who were able began to spray everything coming out of the tunnel with bullets. Some of the mutants were brought down, but more made it to the defenders, tearing appendages, literally biting faces off. Screams filled the cavern, amplified a hundred times from stone. Pungent smells of decay, blood and urine steamed from the ground, cries were joined with the sounds of splattering blood and the thud of bodies hitting walls and dirt. Denisovich stared in wonderment.
“Seladore's light,” she whispered to herself. Picking up one of the many guns in the antechamber, she too started firing, but her aim was poor, and only served to draw attention to her and the robot behind her.
“Dammit! This is why I use a sword,” she swore, dropping the gun and picking up a much smaller (and quieter) pistol.
“Kalten!” she yelled, hoping to draw his attention for only a moment, “There are guns here for you squishies. Use them and get out!”
If he heard her, he gave no indication, and she had used up all the goodwill she could muster for them. Sliding along the stone, only firing when one of the mutants was directly in front of her, Denisovich led Ziro past the battle into the now empty tunnels. Not twenty paces inward, they felt the ground shake as someone threw an Atrean hand bomb.
“Morons,” Denisovich muttered, not even bothering to look back.
The cave she'd initially been held in was off the main tunnel, and appeared empty, though there were no lights, having all been taken by the panicking Sons. Picking her way carefully across the room to avoid tripping over uneven rocks or chains, Denisovich found her sword, along with her other weapons, which had apparently been thrown at the wall at the first sound of trouble. Some of her belts, however, were missing, as was her LiqNit pouch. She echoed her stomachs groaning.
“Is there a problem?” Ziro asked, causing Denisovich to jump.
“Gods! I forgot you were there.”
Ziro made no response.
“It's nothing,” Denisovich assured it, strapping her sword on. “We have to get to the surface. Do you remember how you were brought here?”
There was silence.
“Ziro, are you shaking your head? Because I can't see you.”
“Oh. No, I do not remember. I was not activated until I was already inside.”
Denisovich sighed. The sounds were quieting now, though she speculated distance had more to do with it. The chambers were full of side tunnels, dead ends, caves...who knew where they all led?

~~

It took backtracking after more than one wrong turn, but the two reached the opening of cave without incident, which was making Denisovich incredibly nervous. Were those things really so set on the humans that none had followed them?
A boulder was pushed partially out of opening, letting thin beams of light in. Wedged in this opening was a familiar figure.
“Mercer,” Denisovich called, kneeling down and shaking him. He didn't move, but she had a clear view of what caused his little nap: a large bruise over his left temple.
The sounds had disappeared now, no doubt the Sons had made their escape or were all dead. Either way, no one would help. She turned him over, staring into his face.
“It's so uncanny,” she murmured, shaking her head slowly. She looked up where the light was fading. Without much effort, Denisovich lifted the prone body over her shoulder, nodding to Ziro to follow her.
Seeing the city where she'd been captured not far, she gave a breath of relief. The sky was an ugly shade of orange, bleeding down the horizon.
Denisovich stopped, realizing she could no longer hear Ziro's soft steps. Turning, she saw the android halted, eyes staring, head swiveling in both directions. Its arms hung loosely from its side and it held even still than usual.
“What? What is it?” Denisovich demanded shortly.
“What happened here?” Ziro whispered. Denisovich looked around, realization slowly dawning. The vast emptiness of the Wasteland, broken horizons split by the sad remains of dead cities. The darkening sky contrasted with a necrotic moon, the only point of light. Dust and still radioactive particles hung heavy in the tepid air.
Denisovich's face softened in sympathy.
“There was a ware,” she murmured quietly. “I'm sure you felt the blasts.”
Ziro shook its head. “I was not activated till those humans breached the wall. When did this happen?”
Denisovich shrugged. “Two hundred years ago? At the time, we were desperate to destroy the NIL's.”
Ziro blinked, assimilating the data.
“What's a NIL?”
Denisovich sighed.
“I'll explain on the way. See if you can find a car or bike or something.”
After some furtive searching, Denisovich had reacquired her belongings, save what the Sons had taken from her, even her Breather, which had gotten tossed aside. Now she felt weak, listless, the adrenaline used up in escaping having sapped the last of her energy. The air felt more brittle, the last few rays of the sun scorching beneath her flesh. She glanced around at the motionless NIL bodies, left over from the Sons onslaught, while leaning against the wall, hiding in the shade, plotting the next move. With no currency, she had nothing to trade for information or supplies. The old doubts returned...this was a foolish mission, she should return to the City and never have to deal with fascist humans, sarcastic androids and the always constant fear of knowing that everything that moved wanted to kill her. She clenched her eyes shut in frustration. A primal jolt ran from her head down through her spine as a sound-that-was-not-quite-audible floated down to her ears. Denisovich's eyes snapped open. An inhuman snarl hissed through her lips as she leapt to her feet. Ignoring the hunger that made her blood feel thick and chunky, she clenched her jaw, drawing her long knife. Her head cleared into predatory clarity as muscles bunched. Her eyes glowed metallic, skin flushing.
“I can hear you. Feel you here. Come out, you mangy, thrice cursed-”
“You Atreans say the sweetest things,” a voice which resembled sand paper scraping across rust spoke above her. She spun, instinctively raising her blade, deflecting a four pointed blade before she had even seen it.
Two figures hung off the side of the building, claws sunk deeply into the steel and cement. Both had long, shaggy hair, visibly swarming with insect life. Simultaneously, they released their hold, landing heavily on the ground in front of her. On the left was a lighter haired male figure, at least four inches taller than Denisovich and clearly significantly heavier. The true color of his hair was hard to determine, matted as it was with dirt and filth. Unnaturally thick hair covered the top of his bare arms, which ended in large hands complete with sharp, chipped nails. Bright green eyes shone out from the shadowed face. The girl on the right was no cleaner, though her hair was less thick and didn't cover as much of her skin. She was much smaller as well. Scars ran along her neck and shoulders, visible near the hems of her torn shirt. Her nose was pressed up, giving her a pig-like appearance, making the beauty of her deep blue eyes all the more disturbing.
“I wonder if the tongue that speaks them would be as sweet,” the female continued, licking chapped lips, revealing jagged teeth and two sets of fangs.
“Thyestrian mongrels,” Denisovich spit, taking a defensive stance. The paced back and forth in front of her, skin sliding over hardened muscles. Her mind flashed to predatory animals now extinct, who used claw and tooth before they disappeared into the ashes of Black Winter.
Denisovich forced herself not to look at the still unconscious Mercer, lest she draw the attention fo the two hunters.
“Crawl back to your caves,” she ordered, internally calculating her chances. Despite the adrenaline which echoed through her blood with a song of invincibility, the cold analytical mind reminded her she was outnumbered. Merely an inconvenience usually, considering these two were born After Outbreak by all appearances, but without feeding...These thoughts flashed through her mind, offering her the simple, frustrating truth.
She was going to lose.
Sharp Thyestrian eyes noticed the slight shift in focus and took the chance to strike. Sharp claws shot towards her face. She sidestepped, swung her blade down, attempting to lop off an arm. The male growled out, “Elissa!”, knocking the girl out of the way and catching Denisovich's wrist. She twisted out of his grasp, leaving her wrists bleeding from jagged talons.
The girl, Elissa, darted in low, but Denisovich landed a blow with the metal hilt of her blade, right to the back of the head. Elissa yelped, dropping to the ground. Denisovich leaped back, reposition herself. Blood from her wrist pooled into her gloves, making her grip slick. Elissa scrampled back to her feet, then started as the air was split with thunder like shots, followed by the telltale buzz of a motorized engine. The Thyestrians dove to the ground, the male bleeding from the leg and shoulder.
A sandtruck bounced over the rubble, Ziro firing out the driver's window. The front of the vehicle appeared to be made from the hatch of an older kind of vehicle, dependent on solar energy. Welded to the back was a tanker-container with the top half sawed off. The driving component was a rusty copper, while the bed was a tarnished gray, visibly eaten away holes glaring from the side and bottom. At least the caterpillar-style treads seemed to function just fine.
Seeing no chance for hesitation, Denisovich scooped Mercer up and, launching herself from a boulder, landed them both in an undignified heap in the truck's bed. Ziro sped them away, but not before Denisovich caught a glimpse of more figures climbing the sides of buildings, howling and snarling, their movements clearly marking them as vampire, yet as foreign to her as the mutants which had so devastated the Sons of Adam. Her eyes widened in frustrated surprise as a more modern sound joined the growling...more engines, clearly better maintained than the rusted pick-up she was currently bouncing in.
What I wouldn't give for a skiff or sandbike, she lamented before turning her attention to other matters. She shook Mercer's shoulder, yelling for him to wake up. He stirred, but didn't open his eyes. Her leonine eyes glowed in the dark, beginning to tint with desperation. She looked down, watched his veins pulsate. The blood memory of all those who came before her whispered in her head, entreating and enticing. His skin felt warm and she could hear his heart beat ringing in her ears.
“Mercer!” she hissed, putting her face close to his. The other vehicles, now visible despite having no lights, glistened in the putrescent moonlight as they came closer. Denisovich yanked Mercer up by his collar. His head lolled back. Her last fully cognizant thought was: He's going to be pissed, before rationality was abandoned for the sake of survival. Pulling her lips back, she cocked her head to the side, the better to sink her single set of fangs deep into his jugular vein. She didn't even notice as his eyes opened to slits, nor hear the low moan of almost-wakefullness.
The reaction was immediate and electric. Hot blood gushed into her mouth, burning metallic flavor flowing down her throat. She suppressed a gasp, trying to avoid letting any precious liquid spill out as her eyes tinted red, body spasming as strength poured into muscles and joints. The night was awash with light, every reflection a beacon dazzling. She drank deeply, had been so long, lose self in the sensation...Her eyes snapped open and she jerked back, automatically putting her hand on the holes to stop the bleeding. Her thoughts were a lightning-lit maelstrom.
So good.
More.
No. Stop. Killing him.
So what? Why does it matter?
No. Wrong.
Enemy. Weakling.
Person.
House Thyestes.
All at once, her faculties sharpened to pin-point focus. Only stopping to wrap a piece of her long coat like a bandage around the neck of the now quite pale human, Denisovich turned her attention to the fast-approaching enemies. Now she could see their eyes, bright shades of green, blue and violet, their slitted pupils one of the few attributes in common with her own race. Feral hair streamed out windows, obscuring semi-deformed features and mouths full of jagged teeth. Standing defiantly straight up, despite the bouncing which ever threatened to unbalance her, she bared her fangs in taunting challenge. Leaping off the back, she felt the whole world slow, a sensation similar to swimming through warm water (not an experience she'd had recently). She knew exactly when to stretch her legs, allowing her to use the momentum to literally run over the first vehicle, sliding her blade through the cab without it catching on anything. Without stopping to see what damage had been done, feeling the exhilaration of fresh blood pumping through her atrophied heart, she dove onto the roof of the next vehicle, grabbing the bar that ran along the top in front of the polarized glass and jammed her sword into the driver's window. A cruel smile crossed her lips as she heard the satisfying crunch and gush. The loss of consciousness (if not life) caused the Thyestrian to swerve the vehicle, knocking her from the top. She rolled away when she hit the firm ground, the movement the only things which saved her from the unforgiving tread of the final vehicle, a sandtruck similar to the one Ziro was currently barreling away with. It took a few extra seconds to regain her breath, her vision blurred and fogged. She heard two of the rovers stop, doors opening and the sound of heavy steps hitting dirt. Denisovich pulled herself up, raising her blade which still held a few shreds of metal shrapnel in its barbs. She counted as four piled out of one rover, the only one still undamaged. From the second, she watched a figure fall out, tumbling lifelessly to the ground. Two more crawled out the same door, one favoring a limb. The vehicle closest to Ziro's, now with a gash across its top, continued its pursuit of the android, leaving Denisovich to fend for herself against the six Thyestrians fanning out in front of her. She took quick stock of movements, features...anything to give away their status. Thyestrians didn't mark their offspring Before Outbreak, so such designations had to be implied through other physical means. She watched them confidently approach, their spines bent, some with spittle trailing from their mouths. Clearly hunters, perhaps even young Enforcers. Without the intoxicating effects of fresh feeding, she may have been concerned, but her mind was floating above the scene, calculating, and it never occurred to Denisovich that she might be in danger. None appeared armed, save one which wielded a hefty piece of re-bar. Their gender was difficult to determine as all were muscled, with long hair and filthy faces. She felt her stomach turn, hereditary and socialized reactions pushing the thoughts around in her mind. She felt more than heard the first movements of a fighter at her side, leaping at her with hands outstretched. The others followed suit, all diving in at once. She swung her blade in a wide arc, making space to move, to manipulate. She felt a sting at her back. Taking a few steps forward, she jumped and kicked the chest of the figure directly in front of her, one of the smallest in the group. It stumbled backward, continually growling, despite the blood she could see stain its lips. She used the gap to spin, catching the arm of one fighter. It snagged on a barb, shredding flesh. The creature howled, thrashing its other arm wildly. It caught Denisovich across the face, superficial slashes near the jaw. She roared back, swinging the blade into a leg, crushing the bone and sending the Thyestrian sprawling to the ground. Already the others were back on her. The re-bar smashed into her shoulder. She yelped, reflexively dropping her blade. Dancing away, she tried to reassert her position. Her shoulder was throbbing and she could barely lift her arm. Preparing to heave rocks if need be, Denisovich was just as surprised as the other 'pires when another figure darted in, impaling one from behind with her long knife. Sliding away, it slashed at another, ducking under the block and slicing up the chest. Sable hair whipped around a pale face and a bloody piece of cloth fell away from a slender neck. Twin fangs gleamed as if the moon itself was smiling back. For the second time, Denisovich found herself asking:
“Marek?”
“Well, who did you expect, lady? Oh, behind you.”
Denisovich ducked under another swing of the re-bar. None of the Thyestrians were dead, hardier even than Atreans, who were nigh impossible to kill. She knelt, picking up her sword with her left hand and side-stepping till she was back-to-back with the Atrean neophyte. A hundred questions poured through her mind, but they were all halted as a sound, as familiar now as it was unwelcome, rolled over the warped hills.
“Marek...you hear that?”
His cobalt eyes scanned the limping, angry figures.
“I saw it before. Reinforcements.”
Denisovich swore.
“The android will bring the truck around. Useful fellow, that, if a bit untrusting. Said it had something for you, yet refused to tell me what it was. Can you imagine?”
“Shut up, Marek. You're back to being you for four minutes and I already want to leave you as bait for them.”
“Cerastes, you hurt me.”
“I will hurt you-”
“Promises, promises.”
Despite the pain and Marek's incessant prattling, Denisovich could not stop the chemicals firing feelings of joy, of full life. And though this conversation had eaten away a few seconds, none of the Thyestrians had moved, either due to incapability or (more disturbingly) because they knew help was on the way and were simply biding their time. Allowing no such comfort, Marek lunged forward, the blade a singing arc of reflected light in his hands. Denisovich's face screwed into a frown as she was forced to acknowledge his superior fighting skills. Accustomed as she was to strength, agility and speed superior to almost everything which inhabited the Wasteland, she'd never honed the finer points of combat. Having managed to carve a void in the snarling masses, Marek indicated she should follow, and the two shot away form the approaching vehicles, laden with who knew how many more fighters. Ziro was waiting, slowing just enough for the two to hop in before kicking dirt up and speeding away.
Marek was closer to the driver's hatch, looking forward to see where they could go. A soft, ugly sound emanated behind him, and something warm dropped onto his back. Turning, his eyes went wide. The metal rod which had previously cracked her shoulder blade was now sticking several inches out of Denisovich's chest. Marek could see the other end pulling out her back. She looked down at the foreign object, seemingly confused. He had to move quickly to grab her arm before she fell off the back. As gently as possible he pulled her down to a reclining position. He saw her eyes mist over as she struggled to maintain consciousness. Feeling anything but assertive, Marek yanked the re-bar out as cleanly as he could muster. Denisovich screamed, her back arching as the rod pulled out.
Again, she looked down as blood pulled down her chest, onto the bed and through the holes, trickling to the ground.
“Well,” she managed weakly, a shadow of a smile flickering across her face, “This could be a problem.”