THIRTY-FIVE

 

The rest of our group arrived safely at the hospital and two days later I was healed and cleared to go to the power plant.

I shifted the weapons that were secured to me, counting again how many grenades I had attached to my belt.  I pulled the vest, feeling uncomfortable.  It might have been bulletproof but it was torture to wear.

I glanced around at the four men that sat nestled in the tank with me.  Their faces were set hard, no emotions present.

The noise from the track wheels died away and I knew we had arrived.

One of the men opened the top hatch and we all climbed out.  We were only about seventy-five yards away from the plant.  I could see them even from here, rows and rows of Bane, standing on and around it.

“We’ll take out as many of them as we can with this,” one of the men said as he patted the firing turret.  “We have to be careful not to damage the plant though.  The rest of us will pick them off one by one, as quickly as we can.”

I nodded, my eyes never leaving the gleaming bodies ahead of me.

Two of the men unhooked the mile long power supply line from the back of the tank.  One end of it trailed behind us, going directly back to the Pulse.  We unwound the rest of it, attaching the end of it to a hook on the back of my vest that I could easily release once I got inside.  I shrugged my shoulders, testing its weight.  It would have been too heavy for me to carry if I had been a normal girl.  It had taken two of them to carry the entire line.

As one of Royce’s soldiers handed me my weapon, I couldn’t help but smile.  I had to admit, the M4 assault rifle was beautiful.

“You ready?” one of the men asked, gripping the firing turret.

“Fire away,” I said as I turned my eyes ahead of me.

The blast from the tank shook the ground and nearly knocked me off my feet.  Gleaming metal eyes jumped to life as they turned in our direction.  I took off running toward them as the second blast was fired.

Gleaming parts exploded and flew through the air as dozens of them leapt at me.  I fired, flashes of light illuminating the streets.  Bodies dropped, metal frames shattered, wires sparked.  Shots fired from behind me and more bodies hit the ground.  Still more and more of them woke to life, leaping to attack.

The line attached to me slowed my progress more than I anticipated.  I put all of my weight into it, dragging it behind me as I fired.  The plant suddenly seemed miles away, even though I was closing in on only a few dozen yards.

I pulled the pin of one of the grenades and tossed it at the chain-link fence that surrounded the plant.  I almost couldn’t see it through all the Bane that surrounded it.  A few seconds later, metal flew through the air, raining down on me with deadly force. 

A hand grabbed at my right arm, closing in with crushing force.  I jammed the butt of my firearm in its face, knocking it away for just long enough to blow its head off.  Another leapt at me, its eyes gleaming through the dark.  It was riddled with bullet holes before it even hit the ground.

I remembered the advice Dr. Beeson had given me and focused all my thoughts on pushing the Bane away as my feet pounded the pavement.  A few Bane hesitated as they ran at me, their movements becoming jerky as they fought my wireless commands.  I couldn’t transmit to them all and keep a very strong connection.

The plant was a mere twenty feet away.  While plenty of them had woken, most of them stood motionless, their eyes fixed on the source of electricity ahead of them.  Sleepers, I assumed.  I had to push my way through mechanical bodies, firing as I went to take out as many of them as I could. 

I was plowed into from the side, knocking me to my back.  I rolled as I went down, the line wrapping around my midsection.  A body leapt on top of me, its hands closing around my throat.  Before it could even squeeze, its head exploded from a shot coming from the tank.  I jumped to my feet again, untangling myself as I sprinted.

Just as the transformer came in sight, I heard the additional gun shots.  But this time they were being fired in my direction.  I didn’t look back as I pushed myself faster.

Bodies started dropping ahead of me as both me and Royce’s men fired.  I mowed down the last row of Bane who stood at the edge of the plant, clearing my way to the ladder that rose fifteen feet up to the transformer.  The metal sang as I ascended, my boots striking each rung.  The ladder vibrated as another body joined me in the climb.

The Bane climbed faster than I had and grabbed my barely healed ankle, threatening to pull me back over the edge.  The sound of another shot filled my head and a fraction of a second later blood sprayed from my left arm as my flesh was torn open.  Another shot was fired and the Bane grabbing me dropped to the ground with the hiss of electric death.

Blood started to spill from my arm as I heaved myself onto the platform and pulled the line to give me some slack.  I hadn’t noticed the two Bane who were surrounding the transformer until they tackled me to the cement.

One of them closed its hands around my throat and it held me pinned to the ground.  The other pulled a hand gun, releasing the safety.

I narrowed my eyes at the armed one, focusing every thought I had towards it.  The next second, the Bane choking the life out of me dropped to the ground, killed by its fellow kind.  It turned the gun on itself the next second.

I scrambled to my feet again, finally reaching the transformer.  I could feel the currents of electricity emanating from it as I finally connected the line.  It hummed to life instantly.

The sound of metal scraping concrete sounded as I turned to make my escape.  Dozens of Bane climbed onto the platform, their dead eyes fixed on me.  Light flashed through the sky as shots were fired from both directions.

I sprinted forward without thinking, barreling through the bodies in front of me before they could react.  I leapt off the platform, flying through the night sky for one freeing second before I slammed to the ground. 

Stay away, stay away, stay away, I thought as my boots slapped the pavement back toward the tank.

Just as I was clear of the ring of Bane that surrounded the plant, I heard an explosion.  The buildings and streets before me were illuminated as the fire billowed out, racing towards me with unstoppable force.  I screamed as the flames ate away the fabric of my pants, melted the rubber of my boots to my feet.  I felt every cell of my skin as it singed and was burned up.  I hit the ground just fifteen yards away from the tank as the flames of the Bane’s explosive died away.

I couldn’t distinguish one scream from the next as I heard feet meeting the concrete and felt hands close around my arms and start pulling me back toward the tank.  Every movement felt like tortured death as they hauled me up and inside.  The tank roared to life as we crawled back to the hospital.

“Are they following us?” a voice asked. 

A few moments later a voice responded.  “No, they’re flocking around the plant again.  That’s incredible!  The Sleepers don’t even seem to care.”

I clenched my teeth together as I tried to force my vision to focus on the roof of the tank.  My breathing came in labored gasps and I felt lightheaded.  I’d made it out of the plant alive but would I make it back to the hospital?

“Hang on!” a voice called to me.  A face floated across my vision. 

Black spots swam in my vision as I was jostled again a few minutes later.  One of my legs scraped against the lip of the hatch of the tank, sending a blood curdling scream ripping from my chest.

I didn’t question it anymore.  It had been more than my emotional blockers that Dr. Beeson had removed.

Between each gasping breath, I couldn’t help but let out another agonizing scream.

Men in white jackets surrounded me and I was blinded by the lights on the ceiling of the white hallways.  The only thing I could see was the pair of blue eyes above me, trying to speak words that I couldn’t hear.

My body exploded in blossoms of pain as I was moved again, a hard board suddenly beneath my body.

I heard only jumbles of words.  My brain tried to sort everything out, trying to grasp onto something that made sense. 

“…transfusions…”

“…skin grafts…”

“…cybernetic parts…”

“…accelerated regeneration…”

A strange thumping in my chest startled me.  It didn’t come in even beats, it was erratic, painful.  My breaths came in quick gasps.  Even that hurt.  It hurt to scream.  It hurt to lie still, it hurt to move.  It hurt to be.

Finally I slipped under.