Extensis Vitae: The Shattered Land Read online

  Since they had come directly from Planter’s Ridge instead of Outpost Echo, they had taken a slightly different route and had stumbled across the work site just after dusk. Reznik wasn’t happy that darkness had already fallen, but he figured his and Rin’s night vision was decent, and the tricky part of the mission would take place in the darkness of the caves anyway. If they were lucky, the creatures might even be out of their caves hunting when they slipped inside.

  They continued driving deeper into the exclusion zone in the dark, hoping they would make it to the caves without incident.

  ***

  Reznik lay prone on the top of a large boulder. The rear cavern entrance was down inside a small gully and appeared to be quiet. He could see well in the darkness with his visual display dialed up, but he wondered if it would function as well in what was likely to be pitch blackness inside the caves. The scope of the Tachibana, with its IR illuminator, would allow him to see in absolute darkness if needed, much like the night-vision goggles he had used extensively on Delta operations.

  He slid back down from his position and made his way back to the truck. Rin sat on the roof in the lotus position. The Ares 13 stood silently, scanning the darkness for threats.

  “All quiet from what I could see,” he said quietly.

  Rin opened her eyes and uncoiled from her position. “Let’s hope it’s quiet inside as well.”

  “Not likely, but we have to hope for the best. Are you okay with the plan?”

  “Well, this whole mission isn’t what I’d consider a brilliant idea, but the plan seems as solid as possible given the circumstances. We get in, find the women, get out, and engage the creatures only if necessary.”

  “Right. The robot covers our retreat, you drive, and I’ll man the .50 cal as soon as we get to the truck. Hopefully, we can fit them all in.”

  “It’s going to be a tight squeeze, but a couple of them can sit in the back if they won’t fit.” Rin adjusted her katana at her waist and cracked her knuckles. “Ready when you are.”

  Reznik keyed his Datalink. The signal worked, thanks to the drone hovering far overhead, acting as a relay. It didn’t reach all the way to Planter’s Ridge but allowed him to make contact with Marcus at the outpost.

  “Marcus, we’re about to enter the cavern. Give us five minutes and then deploy your distraction. Thanks again for the assist on this.”

  “Just glad I can be of help,” Marcus’s voice came over the link. “Be safe in there.”

  “Copy, will do. Reznik out.” He gathered his weapons and made sure he had rounds chambered and safeties off. He was torn about taking the Tachibana but decided he would bring it since the scope would be useful as well as its stopping power although the rifle would be difficult to wield in close quarters. He had also decided to carry the AK-47, the .45, a tactical shotgun he had acquired from one of the dead slavers, and a couple knives in case he got in any close scrapes. I’d prefer it doesn’t come to that… if it does, then we’re probably screwed. He also slipped two frag grenades into his cargo pockets; he had found them in the slavers’ vehicles. He had the pulse rifle the slaver boss had carried but had decided not to experiment with an unfamiliar weapon in the field, keeping it in the truck’s lockbox.

  “Stand guard here and cover us when we return,” he instructed the Ares 13. He pointed to a spot where the bot would be able to watch their approach. “Protect the vehicle at all costs as well.”

  “Understood.” The robot spoke in a deep, synthesized voice. It sounded weird to Reznik since he was used to hearing Ichiro’s voice broadcast from the robot’s speaker. It moved into position, and its guns clacked loudly as it loaded the autocannons.

  Rin moved down the trail, and Reznik followed. They paused at the boulder he had lain on top of just a few minutes ago. A quick look down the gully showed all was still quiet. The clouds parted, and moonlight shone on the desolate scene. They quietly proceeded into the gully and took position outside the entrance to the cavern, waiting for Marcus’s distraction.

  A minute later, a warbling shriek broke the heavy silence of the exclusion zone. Marcus’s distraction was audible from where it had deployed at the main entrance of the cavern nearly a mile away.

  “That’s our signal—let’s go,” Reznik said as he darted inside the mouth of the cave, shotgun at the ready.

  Chapter 18

  The First was roused from his bathing by an awful shrieking that reverberated throughout the caverns. His brothers and sisters jumped up and began racing back and forth around the pool in alarm. They looked to him for guidance.

  “The soldiers have come,” he boomed. “They will attempt to take our offspring and destroy us. We must slaughter them first.” He rose to his full seven-foot height and strode out of the pool. The green tendrils glowed fiercely on his skin. “Come, my brothers and sisters. We will hunt these soldiers, but first we must protect the offspring.” A pair of Bright Ones raced off to guard the pens.

  “Let us make them pay dearly for their violation of the Bright Ones’ home.” It wasn’t fear or eagerness he felt, but relief—relief that they would finally be able to crush the invading Thorne soldiers and send them home with their tails between their legs. They must attack so brutally and inflict so much damage that the soldiers would fear to ever return. The Bright Ones would make them pay dearly.

  His brothers and sisters went streaming out of the main chamber to seek out their enemy. The First took a moment to smell the air and listen to the reverberations of the shrieking that hurt his ears.

  As his fingers caressed the bump on his hip that was the invisibility device, he was reminded of the day he had discovered the last Thorne soldier in his territory. When the scout had seen the First, he had tried to flee by using his invisibility trick, but the First was cunning enough to track the man by hearing and smell. He remembered the thrill of the hunt and the high he had felt once he caught up to his prey and slid his claws into the man’s soft belly. The sight of all that blood erupting from thin air was deeply ingrained in his memory. After the First had devoured the soldier’s flesh, he had tried on the device himself, just barely able to fit the belt around his thick waist. He enjoyed watching the effect as his body shimmered and became invisible. Stalking and observing his unsuspecting prey gave him a rush and a sense of invulnerability. After a time, his flesh had absorbed the mechanism and attached belt into his skin, but it still functioned perfectly.

  The First smiled at the thought of hunting more prey. He hoped these soldiers would be a challenge, and he looked forward to testing his strength against them. As he triggered the button, his powerful form shimmered and then disappeared into the darkness.

  ***

  “Phase one is complete,” Marcus reported. He sat and fidgeted nervously in the copilot seat of the drop ship. The feed from the drone indicated all was clear below. His idea to replace the drone’s missile payload with a screamer seemed to have worked perfectly. The devices were commonly used for crowd pacification as the shrill siren was loud enough to cause damage to the ears if one remained in proximity to the noise for more than a short time.

  The screamer was now embedded in the cliff wall right above the mouth of the cavern. He expected the creatures to investigate the disturbance, and when they did, Bethany and her men would try to capture one of them for research. Why mess around with mutated dogs when we can snare the top of the food chain? Even that prick Barbosa should be impressed by this.

  “Copy. Look sharp,” Bethany told her grunts in the cargo bay. “Take us up,” she directed the pilot.

  The thrusters fired, and the ship smoothly lifted up and banked toward the cavern system in the exclusion zone a short distance away.

  Marcus made sure the helmet of his bio-rad suit was secure and prayed that his plan would work.

  ***

  Rin was a slight, silent shadow as she moved down the passageway. Reznik had acquiesced and let her take point since she would have a better chance of dropping any of the creatu
res silently before they could raise the alarm.

  The air was warm and humid underground, and Reznik knew there must be a water source somewhere nearby. The shrieking of Marcus’s distraction reverberated deafeningly throughout the caverns, and Reznik imagined the mutants must be pretty pissed off about the rude disturbance of their peace. His internal Geiger counter dropped below five rads once they went a short distance underground.

  Rin suddenly threw herself against the wall ahead of him. Reznik reacted instantly and dropped to a crouch, leaning his shoulder against the warm stone wall. He snapped the shotgun up and waited, trying to keep his nervous breathing from becoming audible although it seemed loud with his boosted hearing.

  Something rasped against stone just ahead. Just when Reznik could make out heavy breathing, a towering figure came around the corner. He gasped in shock at the appearance of the mutant. He had chalked the townspeople’s descriptions up to frightened tall tales, but the appearance of the creature fit the bill and then some.

  The creature stood over six and a half feet tall, its body corded with thick slabs of muscle. Its skin was a dusky color, and its eyes were glowing emeralds in the darkness. Its head sloped back from a protruding muzzle filled with sharp teeth. Serrated ridges of claw or bone grew out of the backs of its hands, forming blades. Most striking were the glowing green tendrils that laced its skin. A cross between a werewolf and some kind of demon was the closest thing Reznik could think of to describe it.

  The mutant was next to them before it noticed them. It froze in surprise momentarily before everything happened at once.

  It reared its head back to roar when Rin’s katana pierced its neck. Reznik rose and aimed the shotgun at its chest. The mutant howled in pain and, instead of pulling away from the sword through its neck, lunged at Rin. The sword slid deeper into its neck as the mutant tried to gut her with the blade on its arm. Rin leaped aside, but the claw raked her, tearing a large gash in the side of her leathers.

  Reznik squeezed the trigger and the shotgun bellowed deafeningly loud in the enclosed space. The slug tore into the mutant’s ribcage. A glowing green substance spilled from the wound, but the creature stayed upright. The mutant slowly turned its head to regard Reznik with its burning green eyes.

  Rin tugged on her sword, tearing it out of the mutant’s neck and scraping it off the spine as it exited. More of the glowing blood began pouring out of its neck wound. The creature roared in pain and swung at Reznik, who backpedaled and chambered another round.

  Blam! The shotgun fired again, blasting the monster square in the chest this time. It stumbled back as more blood spurted. Rin leaped into the air and hacked at its neck again. This time, her aim was true, and the sword cut the rest of the way through the neck, sending the head bouncing off the wall and down the passageway. Luminescent globules of blood spattered the floor in its wake.

  “Holy shit. They weren’t kidding that these things are tough to bring down,” Renzik said, wide-eyed. He chambered another round. Even with the shrieking piercing their eardrums, the roar of the shotgun would still be audible throughout the caverns. “They know we’re here now.”

  Before Rin could reply, he saw movement down the corridor. “Behind you!”

  Another mutant came surging down the corridor, growling as it pounced at Rin. The swordswoman ducked and lashed out with the sword. The creature’s leap took it right over the top of her, the sword carving across its midsection. It landed right in front of Reznik, who fired a slug into its face. Bits of teeth and bone and blood sprayed out as the slug hit it right in the lower jaw. The mutant reeled back, and Reznik watched Rin’s sword jab out through the front of its chest. The blade disappeared and reappeared twice more before the mutant dropped with a gurgle.

  “So much for stealth. We don’t have much time—we have to find the women.” Reznik noticed that his Geiger counter crackled and spiked around twenty rads when he stepped over the dead mutant. As soon as he stepped away, the rads dropped off again.

  He took off at a jog down the corridor, Rin right beside him. The constant shrieking reverberating through the caverns ensured that they didn’t have to be too careful about staying quiet.

  The passageway wound around and descended deeper underground. Reznik could feel the air becoming cooler and clammy. He could barely make out the sound of running water nearby.

  After a couple more minutes, the passageway opened up into a long cavern. A stream of water ran along the bottom. Reznik counted three other passageways leading out of the chamber.

  “Which way now?” Rin asked.

  “I say we keep going down. The women will be in the heart of their lair. Let’s follow the stream.”

  They trotted along the stream as it left the cavern. The passageway narrowed, and the floor became a narrow ledge running beside the stream. After several more minutes, they could see the dim glow of a light source ahead of them.

  Approaching cautiously, they entered a large, circular chamber, where the stream fed into a pool of water in the center. The cavern was bathed in a pale green illumination coming from the pool and a large stone half submerged in it. A closer look revealed the stone to be a chunk of meteorite. Its surface was pitted with small craters, and it had green organic material growing through it, which created the soft illumination in the cavern.

  Reznik looked down and noticed the green substance was in the water and spreading on the ground like a fungus. He glanced at his HUD when the Geiger counter started clicking incessantly and noticed the reading spiked to two hundred rads right at the edge of the pool. This pool is irradiated… If these creatures are drinking that shit, it’s no wonder they are all jacked up.

  He took a step back, and something crunched underfoot. The length of a pale bone was sticking out from beneath his boot. Looking around, he noticed the banks of the pool were scattered with picked-clean bones. Most of them looked like animal bones, but he saw at least one human skull.

  “This is where they lair. They must keep the women close by here.” The eerie glowing substance drew his eye again. “This must be what is causing the mutations. It’s like some type of alien fungus that was inside the meteorite.”

  Rin scuffed at a small vein of the fungus growing across the ground with her boot. The substance rubbed off and stuck to her boot. She scraped the toe of her boot against a rock until it eventually rubbed off. “Whatever this is, I think it would be best to just drop a nuke in here. It’s already an exclusion zone, so that wouldn’t cause any more environmental harm. Unless this substance feeds off the radiation. Maybe conventional incendiaries would be more effective.”

  “I wonder if that would even work, considering this stuff survived the fiery entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.” He was about to say more when a woman’s scream resonated from somewhere deeper in the cavern, just audible over the warbling siren.

  The scream sounded as though it came from the right, and the two of them took the passageway leading in that direction. After about eighty yards, the passageway opened into another cavern, this one dark. Reznik boosted his night vision once again and could see a large cavern with several crude pens fashioned out of scraps of metal and wood. A couple sickly-looking hogs were lying down in the first pen. Down the row, he could see what looked like a person’s back leaning against the gate.

  He noticed glowing eyes just as a mutant saw him. It roared a challenge and charged. Rin flashed past him to head off another mutant moving to flank them.

  ***

  The First crouched on a ledge and watched as his brothers attacked the intruders. The breeding stock were still safe in their pens for the time being. He was interested in these soldiers—they didn’t look much like the Thorne soldiers he was expecting, but they had made it this far, and he could see the faint glow of the Bright Ones’ blood on their clothes and weapons. He would make his move if they got past his brothers, or if an opening presented itself, but for now he was wary of more soldiers pouring into the caverns. He wanted to see what th
eir numbers and capabilities were before he made his move. But one thing was for sure: they must not be allowed to intrude upon their lair and live.

  ***

  The mutant growled and swatted at Rin. She was ready for the attack and slashed with her sword. The creature howled in pain as she carved a gash in its forearm. It launched itself at her, attempting to knock her down. Rin rolled to the side and came up in a defensive position. The mutant landed near Reznik, who was facing off against another one. It took the opportunity to slash at him from behind, knocking him to one knee.

  “Don’t turn your back on me,” Rin growled and struck, plunging the katana through the kidney area of the monster. It roared and whirled around, slashing at her with the blade growing from its arm. Rin deflected its attack, slashed it across the midsection, and carved a chunk out of its thigh on the backswing. Blood leaked from its wounds as it crouched and regarded her. She was about to charge it when she sensed sudden movement behind her. She whirled, but there was nothing there. A powerful blow struck her in the head and she went flying, katana skittering away across the floor of the cavern.

  ***

  Reznik fired a slug from the shotgun but only nicked the mutant in the shoulder as it dodged. He racked another round and fired again, this time hitting it in the side. The mutant roared in pain. He chambered another round, but before he could fire, something hit him from behind, knocking him to one knee and causing him to lose his grip on the shotgun. The wounded mutant was on him in a split second, claws tearing at him as the shotgun clattered to the ground next to him.