The Bloodless (22 page)

              Burns and Saturn’s spirits fell simultaneously, though they weren’t aware of it, it was evident in their eyes. Saturn recovered first, “It just so happens, we have other business in Wilsonville. We do appreciate the info though, so thank you.”

              “Didn’t expect to see anybody else around these parts,” Brantley said eyeing Saturn.

              Burns chuckled, “You ain’t the only one. We been doing this for a while now and this is the first time I’ve seen normal humans this close to the GoD facility.”

              “How long’ve you been out here?” Brantley asked.

              “’Bout six or seven months now,” Burns said looking at Saturn for verification.

              “Eight,” she responded.

              “Eight months,” Brantley said shocked.

              “It ain’t that long, but we are doin’ what we can.”

              “How long have you guys been out here?” Saturn asked.

              “Us? We just got out here,” Brantley said. “Sent on special assignment to scout the region and try and get any information on what the enemy is up to.”

              “Well,” Burns said hesitantly, “if you want, you can come to our HQ in a few days. Our group is gonna be meetin’ up then to exchange reports. Couldn’t hurt to have more guns on our side.” Burns gave Brantley the coordinates, “This’ll be where we at. I think for now, it had better jus’ be you. Leave the boys behind.”

              “Understood,” Brantley said. “Thank you for this, it’s a big help,” he added.

              “We in this together man, we have to help each other out,” Burns said. “Thanks again for the information. Be careful out there, it’s brutal.”

              “Same to you guys.”

              The two teams went their separate ways.

              After some distance was put between them, Burns put his communicator up to his mouth and pressed a few buttons, “Daniel, come back, got some news for you.”

              A couple seconds passed and Daniel’s voice came out of the communicator, “I’m here, what’s up Burns?”

              “Just had an interestin’ rendezvous.”

              “Everything okay?”

              “Yeah, we fine. We ran into a group claimin’ to be part of the US Marine Corps.”

              “Really,” Daniel responded, sounding interested.

              “Yeah, they said the armory in Wilsonville is empty. Nothin’ left.”

              “Well that’s unfortunate. You still gonna go check it out?” Daniel asked.

              “Do you want us to?”

              “I think it’s still worth the trip. You never know what you could find, plus we can’t take some strange guy’s word at face value.”

              “Yeah, I was thinkin’ the same thing. I told him he should meet up with us when we all together again. Don’t worry though,” Burns said before Daniel could say anything, “I gave him coordinates to a large open area away from HQ in Abiyah so we can make sure he comes alone like I told him to.”

              “Good thinkin’ Burns, well done. I’ll share this information with Fox and see what he knows about it. We’ll see you two when you get back. Out.”

              “Out.”

              “You gave him the wrong coordinates?” Saturn asked amused.

              “Of course,” Burns said. “We need all the help we can get, but I ain’t stupid. People are people, I don’t trust ones I don’t know. Never have, never will.”

              The rest of the journey took quite some time but went by without any more encounters. The distance between Abiyah and Wilsonville wasn’t tremendous but it was relatively significant. Especially if the distance had to be traversed on foot. The route was generally flat but there were enough hills to make the journey slightly more difficult than one would like it to be. The good thing about it was the scenery that was to be seen along the way.

              Expansive mountains loomed on the horizon, but were always just far enough that the duo wasn’t forced to scale them at any point in time. Autumn had just began so plants had yet to begin to wither, the ones that weren’t artificial that is. Despite the presence of the cloud, weather patterns seemed to be largely unaffected. Warm and cooler temperatures came and went as normal and even rain continued to fall, albeit with an unfortunate acidic property. It made life a bit strange in the region. While there was abundant plant and wildlife, all normal human life ceased to exist.

              Mother Nature had only recently started reclaiming her lands in the absence of men. It was mostly vines that wound their way up buildings and through windows. However, since upkeep had been universally halted within the 150 mile radius around GoD Laboratories’ land, roads saw their fair share of deterioration as they were cracked and forced apart by plants claiming their stake on the earth underneath. The buildings they came across on their path were faded and faltering due to a sudden lack of upkeep.

              Stray dogs and cats that were unlucky enough to be left behind by their fleeing owners infested nearly every town Burns and Saturn passed through. Most of them were friendly enough but there were some who had grown feral and extremely territorial. These were mostly dogs, as cats tended to flee in the presence of people. There were a few times when Burns and Saturn were forced to defend themselves against an attacking pack of hungry dogs protecting their territory.

              One the second day of their journey, as the time of day was nearing sunset, they came up to a sign that read:
 

“Welcome to Wilsonville – You’re Going to Love it Here.”
 

              “Okay,” Burns said as he lifted his communicator up to eye level. He entered in a few commands and a three dimensional, to scale holographic map manifested above his arm. It flickered a few times then it was solid with a small red dot flashing on it. The dot was over a small inconspicuous building that appeared to be just northwest of their current location. “Looks like we’re headed that way,” Burns said, pointing in the general direction of the building.

              “Doesn’t look very big,” Saturn said looking over Burns’ shoulder at the hologram.

              “It’s probably an underground bunker,” Burns explained. “Best way to keep any armory, really. Easier to keep it outta harm’s way.”

              Wilsonville, just like every other town they encountered, was completely abandoned. It was a bit smaller with a quaint town square that was home to the primary commercial district. Small boutiques and a couple cafés were sprinkled here and there, one gas station stood on what appeared to be the main intersection of the town. It was the biggest road they had come across since their arrival; a whopping four lane road that looked like it had fallen into disrepair long before the Cloud.

              “It looks like there was a battle here,” Burns said as they stood in the middle of the intersection.

              “Hell yeah it does,” Saturn agreed. And indeed the buildings around them had scorch marks, chunks of outer walls blown away, and shattered windows that didn’t have vines already intruding in. Even more clues came in the form of discarded bullet casings, numerous pieces of explosive shrapnel, and blood stains all over the pavement. “This doesn’t look too recent,” Saturn said as she investigated a blood stain.

              “Still,” Burns said scanning the area, “seems kinda strange there ain’t bodies littered all about.”

              “Animals coulda got the bones. It’s not unheard of,” Saturn said standing up and wiping her hands off on her pants.

              “Naw, but ALL the bones? Not likely all the bones woulda been taken, especially skulls and whatnot. Looks like someone cleaned this battle zone up, the dead anyway,” Burns added looking at all the used munitions.

              “Why would only the bodies get cleaned up?”

              “If I’ve learned anything over these past few months with Daniel, it’s that somebody is always hidin’ somethin’. Probably the same case here.”

              “Experiment you think?” Saturn asked.

              Burns nodded, “Definitely.”

              They finished their sweep and resumed their path towards the bunker being careful not to step on any of the undetonated road mines that were left over. After a few more minutes of walking the sun had finally dipped below the horizon allowing twilight to throw a blanket of impenetrable darkness over the town. It wasn’t long into the darkness before they at last arrived at the bunker. “These are the coordinates,” Saturn said examining the doorway that didn’t have a discernible handle on it. “Hopefully it’s the right place.”

              “Even if it is, how the fuck do we get in,” Burns said angrily as he searched for a door handle. After a few moments of not being able to figure it out, Burns pressed a hand against the door and leaned in. Right away the door responded to his touch and lit up. A series of blocks were drawn onto the door in a rectangular shape that had five rows of seven blocks. “What the fuck is this?”

              “Looks like they used a swipe code lock here,” Saturn said.

              “A swipe code? So you sayin’ there’s a swipe code that secures this door,” Burns said astounded. It certainly didn’t seem like the best way to keep people out of a potentially well stocked armory. But, then again...

              “I think we can figure it out,” Saturn said examining the door a bit closer.

              “I think you’re right,” Burns said. “Stand back.”

              “Wha-“

              But before she could say anything, Burns pulled her back and took a running start and slammed the bottom of his boot onto the door right where a doorknob usually would be. He kicked it very hard with a boom that echoed across the town. The door didn’t budge. He tried again but on the opposite side of the door. Again, nothing happened.

              “Are you done?” Saturn asked impatiently.

              “Nope,” Burns said aggressively as he pulled the sub-machine gun off of his back. He pulled the trigger and sprayed a magnificent bullet storm all over the door. Again, the door remained decidedly unblemished. It stood there, the blocks glowing in a mockery of Burns’ futile attempts.

              Saturn gave Burns a look of amusement and walked back up to the door. As soon as she approached it, the blocks faded. Burns started but Saturn held a hand up to him. She calmly ran her hand back over the door causing the blocks to reappear in the same pattern. She looked at the door closely again for a few moments. Then she lifted her hand up and ran a finger in a very deliberate and complicated path over the blocks. When she was done the blocks flashed green then faded away and the door slowly swung open.

              “How the hell,” Burns started astonished.

              “The pattern was carved into the door,” Saturn responded smiling. “I noticed it right when we walked up to it but figured I’d at least make it look like I was tryin’.”

              “Oh you real smart, ain’t ya?” Burns slung the gun back over his shoulder until it was once again resting on his back.

              “You’re damn right,” she said.

              After the door opened all the way Burns stepped into the bunker immediately followed by Saturn who, even after her glorious victory in the battle of intelligence, had no intentions of being left by herself outside for any amount of time.

              They began to descend the stairs once the door was shut behind them and as they did, little runner lights came on along the steps. The stair case looked straight down into near pitch darkness, but the runner lights did show them that there was a possibility of a bottom that seemed to still be accessible. “Smells like death in here,” Burns said halfway down the stairs.

              “Clearly this place was no secret,” Saturn responded. They continued to descend the stairs in silence until they reached the bottom. As soon as Burns’ foot hit the floor, lights turned on and lit up the room. “Oh my lord,” Saturn gasped covering her mouth.

              The bunker was packed with bodies, most completely decayed, the rest well on their way. “Well,” Burns said in a flat tone as he surveyed the room, “at least we know where all the bodies from above went.” They continued to look around for any sign of weapon remnants or for even the smallest bit of ammunition left behind by the folks who raided the bunker. There were a few bullets here and there but nothing of significance.

              “Damn,” Saturn said casting aside a single stray bullet. “There really isn’t anything left down here. That fuckin’ sucks. All that walking for nothin’.”

              “This don’t make sense,” Burns said. He entered a few more button combinations onto his communicator and another holographic map popped up.

              “Is that a map of this bunker?” Saturn asked in awe. Burns nodded. “How’d you get that?”

              “Fox transferred it to me just before we left,” Burns said looking at the map carefully. “It appears there is another room over here,” He pointed towards a stretch of wall that was covered in shelves that were rusted out and empty. He walked over to the area, Saturn trailing, and started looking around.