Containment in Skyscrapers - Chapter 12

[tankicola 111]

Chapter 12

 

When Leo came back inside the helicopter, the heat had already intensified to the point that it was overwhelming.

“What are we going to do?” asked Cherry. 

“We need to jump,” replied Redman. 

“Jump?” repeated Cherry. Without answering, Redman stepped onto the precariously hanging landing skid and whipped out a knife from his pocket. Then, with a forceful blow, he slashed at the pole. The helicopter gave an almighty lurch, and then, as if in slow motion, started to descend upon the dirt, debris, and metal.

Redman quickly shoved Cherry, Rose, Liam and Leo out of the machine, jumping out himself seconds later. Behind them, the helicopter smashed into the side of the building and propelled them forwards.  Every body, dead or alive, was flattened in that small space of time. Metal, bricks, a landing skid, and a rotor mast went flying above their bodies. Redman called for everyone to stay still.

When the sounds of heavy objects being whipped through the air had stopped, Redman got to his feet and checked his watch. 

His heart lifted. For once, the plan was working. There was no time to dwell upon that thought, however, for as they staggered towards the huge building that resembled the graph drawings Rose had shown them, the ground beneath their feet shook and the building at the border exploded. Rose carried Redman; working as a team, they pulled each other’s staggering bodies further away, as chunks of wall and dusty debris rained down upon them.

Redman collapsed upon the half-burned wires the moment that they had reached the SPP. Rose took a penknife from her pocket, slashed at the silvery wires, and within three minutes a human-sized hole gaped in the twisted wire. Redman pushed Leo and Liam through the opening, but when he tried to hurriedly nudge Cherry, she did not move.

“Bill,” she whispered.

Redman and Rose exchanged glances, but neither of them spoke.

“He’s gone, Cherry. And if you don’t move, all of us will follow!” 

Cherry brushed the tears out of her eyes and crawled through the hole. As she did, Redman turned his head and saw Bill walking towards him. He blinked, confused. 

Nobody was there. 

He caught Rose’s glance. She looked just as confused as him. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There!” said Redman, pointing.

Around twenty meters away, across the sandy plain, the tall structure that was the SPP loomed. 

Redman staggered towards the figure, with Rose, Liam, and Leo close behind. Rose pulled out a torch and shone it at Redman’s limping figure. 

“Come on,” she muttered. 

Once they had reached the SPP, they saw that numerous craters flanked the ground around them. Dead trees littered the plain, and burned, blackened, smoking scaffolding could be seen in the gaping holes in the building. 

Then an unfamiliar voice spoke.

“Redman!” 

Redman surveyed the area, spotting a group of about a dozen people huddled underneath a copse of dead trees.

“Where is everyone else?” 

“Gone,” croaked one of the generals next to the woman who had spoken Redman’s name. 

“Gone?” repeated Redman. “What do you mean, gone?”

“They were left at the border,” said another of the survivors. 

“We were attacked! Crazy! Insane people! They came out of an underground tunnel!” said one of the recruits. Redman’s mind whirred. An underground tunnel... the phrase sounded familiar.

“Generals?” asked another recruit. 

Rose and the other generals both looked exactly like Redman felt. Shaking his head, Redman asked, “What happened next?”

“Well, after that, the entire camp was taken over. We had to evacuate everyone we could find, but most of the people were taken.”

“Taken? By whom?”

“The crazy people,” a recruit said simply. 

“Okay, we need to continue the plan,” said Redman, handing out radios from a rucksack. “Everyone familiar with the procedure?”

There were nods and mutterings of assent. 

“Okay, get these torches and follow me!” said Redman. He kicked the door to the highest building open. Immediately, a burst of heat hit them. Redman, however, looked unaffected, though he clutched his leg suddenly. 

Their torches’ light strobed the darkness and passed over bodies encased in rubble. Broken doors, yellow helmets, bloodied ropes, wood, and metal were the buildings' furnishings.

“Woah,” said one of the recruits, as Redman smashed a door out of the way with a metal pole. A large crater, as wide as a small lake, had unceremoniously revealed itself in the left half of the building. Some decayed bodies were strewn around the outer edges, but nothing else could be seen except more rubble. Redman stepped over a body and slid down the crater.

Everyone followed, looking in awe at ivy vines, like ropes, snaking their way across the bottom of the crater. Curling plants covered the split roof below, and small tanks housing strange, half-congealed liquids were scattered around the floor. 

He called for them to follow.

“Don’t touch anything,” Redman reminded them.

 They could all see the metal tunnel, protruding from both sides at the bottom of the crater. Redman made a hand signal, then led everyone to the left one, which was larger than the right. “Okay, so-”

His words were drowned by overhead noises as a blinding white light flashed down at them, obscured and fractured beams emanating from what seemed to be a large aircraft. 

Then there were ominous clankings from the right tunnel and the noises of talking. 

Rose and Redman exchanged fearful looks. 

[Pythor 1,354]

Article approved! 

 

Another fantastic installment of "Containment in Skyscrapers" hits the AWS. In Chapter 12, the survivors must band together to overcome the bleak and barren wilderness that has become their home. Meanwhile, a brand new world is discovered far beneath the compound, home to a devastating and destructive people. Will the survivors have enough courage to conquer a sense of foreboding that lurks at every turn? 

Great job tcola! Keep up the amazing work!

 

Edits -

Spoiler

- Cut down various run on sentences. Try to limit your use of "then" and "and". 

- Deleted/inserted a few commas/semicolons. 

- Spiced up the dialogue in a couple areas. You've got a lot of one/two liners throughout the story. I'd like to some deeper conversations scattered in there.

- Fantastic piece. Your vocabulary never ceases to pull me into the story line!