Back
I jumped as something crashed. Beside me Joby almost yelled. A lot like me, ex-cept he gets scared real easily. And who could blame him. If I knew what he knew about these Neoweapons, I�d be scared too. �No, Petri, three.� He swallowed hard. I heard the gulp. �And one got loose.�
�Loose?� I questioned as the light flashed again. �How so?�
�He escaped from the lab they were at. Based on Earth again. He got out.�
�Are you sure it was a guy?� I could feel his grip on my arm tighten as a buzzing noise came to our ears. Just a few more yards and we�d be at the top�
The buzzing grew louder. Like a school fire alarm gone psycho. And the light flashed again. What in the�
�Isn�t that the fire alarm of the math building?� Joby looked back down the hill.
�Yeah, maybe. But if it is, what�s it reflecting off of?� I shrugged Joby off my arm and climbed the last few feet of broken math building. I was right. It was a base.
The bodies of men were scattered about the ash covered, broken cement. Foot prints were visible as if the men were trying to run for their lives. Kneeling to the closest man, I leaned forward on my knee and slowly, carefully, laid my hand in the ashes. I jerked my hand back as Joby kneeled across from me. �Blood?�
I smeared the ash coated liquid through my fingers. Joby�s face dropped as he closed his eyes. �We�re too late.� He said quietly.
�What?� I barely spoke as I looked down to the figure. The bullet�s entrance hole was just above the spine where it entered the skull. It was a small hole, as if created from one of those new automatic weapons. �They all shared the same fate no doubt. Joby,� I stood up and looked down at him. �Get the rest of the crew. I�m gonna check this out.�
�By yourself?! Are you crazy?! What if their killer�s still down there?!�
�I can take care of myself Joby.� I pulled out the 9mm pistol my Dad gave me just days before. �Go.�
�But�� he stopped. �Petri.�
�Joby tell Dad and Suzie to come up here or if they�ve split up, whoever�s down there.�
Joby stood up and took a step back around the poor fallen soul towards the bottom of the hill. �Alright.� He nodded sharply and walked off.
With a deep breath, I looked over to the open cover in the ground. A manhole cover, thought to be for so many years, turned out to be a third base. �Jene if you can hear me, help me now.� I took a step forward towards what would probably become certain death�