The Darkness. Matt Brennan

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СКАЧАТЬ not to mention it had horrible side effects. All total bull of course, but it led to this huge revolt against the mandatory immunization process.

      If it weren’t for that twit, there’s no telling what might have happened. Maybe everyone would all still be alive today. I wish I could remember her name, but then again who cares! No need to glorify that reckless idiot. She died in the first outbreak, so there was at least some justice left in the universe.

      My mother would never say one way or the other if the vaccine could have avoided a worldwide epidemic; after all, it wasn’t a cure. It just slowed the spread of the virus down. But she did think it would have allowed more people to reach safety. You see, according to my mom, the vaccine put inert antigens of the rubella in your system. These antigens forced the body to make antibodies to prepare for an infection, should it attempt to assert itself. But according to her research, it was these antibodies that were crucial in the melding. Something about a special protein or something in the antibodies, I don’t know. My mother insisted that since the amount of antigens were so miniscule in the vaccines, if the person then got the foamy virus and bacteriophage, the development of the darkness would be considerably slower and might even burn itself out before total infection occurred and more antibodies were made. It had something to do with competition for resources with the healthy cells and evolution or something.

      I dunno, I can’t remember why exactly. It never made sense to me.

      Keep in mind though, the darkness, can also be contracted without the melding. If you come in contact with someone who has it, then you’re dead.

      Crazy, huh?

      Lyssa stands and grabs her assault rifle, “You ever do anything like that again, you won’t have to worry about those monsters out there!” She kicks me in the ribs, “Because I’ll kill you myself! Now, get up! Because of you, we don’t have much time.”

      With that she dashes down the stairs in the opening in the wall. I, on the other hand, do not move. I’m afraid to do anything actually. I can’t help but feel moving will make the pain in my stomach and crotch worse somehow. I’m not sure how, but I know deep down inside that staying completely still in this position is my only chance to avoid further agony and eventual death.

      Lyssa pokes her head back. “If you don’t come now, I’m leaving without you.”

      I manage to just groan out, “Go ahead. I’ll just lay here and die.”

      Lyssa rolls her eyes. “Aww, come on! Don’t be such a wuss. I can’t hurt that bad.”

      I glare at her. “I only wish I could put them on you and kick them again so you would know just how wrong you are!”

      Lyssa smiles and sits. “Look, it’s possible I over reacted.”

      I snap, “Ya think?”

      She smirks. “I don’t take well to people taking control. I even hated it when my dad would do it, but he was my dad. He was allowed.”

      “Well, that goes for me too. I needed my pack. I wasn’t leaving without it. I’ve been calling the shots for myself for three years and I’ve been doing just fine. You want me to do something. I would appreciate it if you ask. And be prepared for me to say no if so I choose. Just like I’m saying no now. Just leave me to die.”

      Lyssa clearly didn’t like that statement but nodded her head. “Fine, you’re right. I’m sorry for not listening to you. I’m also sorry for kneeing you.”

      “Well, I’m sorry for locking you in the dark tunnel.”

      She stands. “All right, enough pleasantries! Get your ass up off the floor already and let’s go!”

      I begrudgingly start to move and learn that I was absolutely correct about it hurting way worse to move. Somehow I get to my feet and carefully stumble after Lyssa.

      The stone stairs leading down spiral like the old turrets in those medieval movies I used to watch. I can barely see anything. The light coming from upstairs is dim and getting dimmer.

      “Hold on.” I reach into my pack and feel around for my matches. I light a candle and hand it to Lyssa, fetching another for myself. And we continue on.

      It feels like we have been going down forever. I lose count of how many steps we take. But there are only two options, up and down. We know what’s up, so down is the only other option. Besides, Lyssa must know where we’re going.

      Finally, we reach the bottom of the steps, it feels like we dropped three hundred feet or more, but it could just as easily have only been thirty. At the bottom there is chamber and big doorway, with a heavy chain and lock on it.

      “Man! How are we supposed to get through that?”

      Lyssa smiles. “That’s the decoy dummy. Over here.”

      She turns and walks behind the stairs we just came down and I see a narrow opening behind them. She disappears under them and I can clearly see a passageway. She beckons me to follow. Once I climb through, she pulls a stone door closed that I hadn’t noticed before.

      Lyssa passes by me. “It won’t lock, but if you don’t know it’s there, it’s hard to find. It was dad’s idea to make our escape a bit more secure. He figured it would take them ten to fifteen minutes to open that big door and find nothing but solid rock behind it. Then maybe, depending on how smart they were, fifteen minutes to find the other doorway. Heck, if they’re stupid enough, they might not find it at all.”

      Her dad and sounded a lot like mine. Again, I’m not surprised. As I’ve said, you had to be crafty and smart to survive the darkness. And they didn’t just survive, they thrived!

      The tunnel is short, just barely high enough for me to walk bent over. I have no idea how long it is, because the candlelight only goes so far. But it feels very confining. I’m tempted to mention my recent bout of claustrophobia, but I don’t want to come off like even more of a wimp than I already have, not to mention I’m a little worried about it taking hold of me if I talk about it.

      So instead, I grit my teeth and follow.

      After two or three hundred feet, the tunnel starts to slope downhill a bit dramatically. I’m almost afraid it’s going to drop off completely. The tunnel goes on like this for about two hundred and fifty feet and then levels off. I start to think about how far under the ground we are and feel a bit of panic well up in my chest. Sweat starts rolling off my brow in streams. Just when I’m about to shout out in terror to let me out, we emerge from the tunnel into a big room filled with seven or eight big turbines.

      “Is this the damn?”

      Lyssa shakes her head, “No, this is a power plant downstream. Come on, we have to get to the boat and then to the bridge before they find the surveillance room.”

      “Why, what would finding the control room do?”

      Lyssa starts running. “It would lead them right to us stupid! We don’t have any cameras past the bridge. But we have a long way to go before we get there.”

      I try to keep up, but really, I’m in horrible physical condition. Again, I curse myself for not following my father’s exercise routines. At one point, she gets so far ahead I lose her altogether. I keep running, but it’s no good. I’m totally lost.

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