• Dead Fortress


    They had nothing to say to each other. It wasn’t the fact that they were just two new recruits who had never met before, nor that they had to carefully step over rubble stained with the crimson that bled from chewed body parts; rather, they remained silent because of the man they followed through what was now a tomb holding tens of thousands of men and woman—all who died for an unholy cause. This man, this nameless person, they knew was capable of almost anything, and that he was a monster.
    Finally, they arrived at a darkened room, which was surprisingly intact. It was the final stop in their trek, the room of Lt Commander Jonah K. Fox, who had been ordered previous to being stationed to keep regular records on the voice-activated log, which wrote everything he said on in the handheld computer logbook.
    The man picked up the screen, selected the records of the last day, and began to read.

    JANUARY 4, 2053; 4:58AM
    OVER THE SPAN OF HUMANITY, THERE HAVE BEEN WARS BETWEEN AND WITHIN NATIONS, DIVIDING PEOPLE BY BELIEF AND CULTURE, RACE AND HERITAGE. EVERY WAR WE HAVE SEEN GREW MORE GRUELSOME AS TIME GAVE US MORE TERRIFYING AND DESTRUCTINVE WEAPONS, BUT NOTHING COULD COMPARE TO THE ABSOLUTE CARNAGE I’VE SEEN, THE SAVAGERY OF THIS NEW ENEMY OF IMPOSSIBLY EFFECTIVE DESTRUCTION. I’M NOT SURE HOW MUCH LONGER THEY WILL WAIT OUTSIDE THE WALLS…
    AS ALWAYS, TO WHOEVER MAY BE READING, THIS COLD VERY WELL BE MY LAST ENTRY, FOR WHATEVER REASON, LIKELY BEING MY DEATH. IF THERE’S ONE THING I’D WANT TO SAY—NO SCRATCH THAT. /SIGH/ ONLY IF WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN TOGETHER, AS PEOPLE SHARING THE SAME WORLD, THE SAME AIR, ONLY IF WE COULD HAVE BEFORE THIS.

    JANUARY 4, 2053; 6:21AM
    I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED. UH, HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS? THE COMMANDER—UH, ONE OF THE THINGS GOT INSIDE. IT MELTED A HOLE IN THE FRICKIN’ WALL WITH ACID FROM, UH, MAYBE ONE OF THE OTHERS, I’M NOT SURE, BUT….THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I’D SEEN ONE MYSELF. IT LOOKED LIKE A FROG, ALMOST, STANDING UPRIGHT ON ITS HIND LEGS, BUT ITS HANDS WERE SCYTHES AND ITS HEAD WAS LIKE A CROCODILE’S. THE ENTIRE THING WAS BONE WHITE, AND COVERED WITH SOME SORT OF CLEAR SLIME.
    THE COMMANDER AND I WERE GOING INTO THE BRIEFING ROOM, AND THE LIGHTS DIDN’T TURN ON. THERE WAS A CLICKLING NOISE, LIKE AN OLD CLOCK WITH HANDS, EXCEPT MUCH LOUDER AND FASTER. I REMEMBER LOOKING IN THE DARKNESS, AND ALL I COULD SEE WAS TWO PIERCING YELLOW-ORANGE EYES, AND THEN ONE AS IT TURNED ITS HEAD TO LOOK AT US BETTER (I ASSUMED).
    AS I STARED AT IT, AND IT STARED AT ME, I COULD SEE IT WORKING OUT A PLAN. THESE THINGS ARE INTELLIGENT.
    IT MOVED, AND I REMEMBER FALLING BACK. THE NEXT THING I SAW WAS THE COMMANDER ON THE GROUND SCREAMING AS HE HELD IT AT ARMS REACH ABOVE HIM. UNTIL IT USED ITS SCYTHE TO SLASH OPEN HIS ARM, AND HE DROPPED IT, AND—THE CREATURE TORE A CHUNCK OF THE COMMANDER’S SHOULDER OFF. I COULD HEAR THE BONES SHATTER AS THEY WERE CRUSHED IN ITS MOUTH.
    AFTER THAT, I’M NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT HAPPENED; I JUST REMEMBER JUMPING UP, SCREAMING, CURSING, AND KICKING THE DAMN UGLY b*****d OFF THE COMMANDER, CHASING AFTER IT, KICKING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. I CAN’T SAY WHEN, BUT WHILE I WAS DOING SO IT SCRATCHED MY LEG; AT THE TIME, HOWEVER, FEAR AND ADRENALINE NUMBED THE PAIN RNOUGH UNTIL THE TING WAS DEAD.
    NURSES HAULED THE COMMANDER TO THE INFIRMARY, HIS ARM HANGING BY JUST SKIN AND BARE SCRAPS OF MUSCLE. SOMEHOW, HE RESISTED THE URGE TO SCREAM. AS THEY SPED HIM AWAY, I HOBBLED AFTER, WINCING AT EVERY STEP ON MY RIGHT LEG.
    THE MOMENT I STEPPED INSIDE THE INFIRMARY, I IMMEDIATELY REALIZED THEY HAD GIVEN UP ON HIM, AS ONLY ONE NURSE PATIENTLY WAITED FOR HIM TO DIE. I COULD SEE HIS BLOOD WAS NOW AS THIN AS WATER, AND WITH THE EXIT WOUND COVERED AND SEALED, CRIMSON LEAKED FROM HIS NOSE, MOUTH, EYES, AND EARS. YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE THIS, BUT BEFORE I COULD TAKE ANOTHER STEP, HE LITERALLY EXPLODED. THE NURSE WAS SCREAMING, COVERED IN RED LIQUID. I—UH, NEVERMIND.

    JANUARY 4, 2053; 7:02AM
    SINCE MY LAST ENTRY, I HAVE BANDAGED MY LEG (WHICH NOW HAS A SLUDGE OF THICK, GREEN MUCUS FRINGED IN A SOFT RED SLOWLY COMING OUT) AND LOOKED INTO MANY ROOMS OF THE BARRACKS. IN THE ROOMS THAT THE MEN AREN’T DOING SOMETHING TO TAKE THEIR MINDS OFF THE ONCOMING TERROR, SOME WERE WRITING LETTERS THAT SURELY WILL NEVER REACH THOSE WHOM THEY ADDRESS. WE WERE ALREADY DEAD, AS FAR AS THE REST OF THE WORLD WAS CONCERNED. A REPORT CAME FROM THE LOOKOUT TOWERS THAT THE CREATURES WERE SENDING FORWARD TWO MONSTEROUS ABOMINATIONS, EACH EQUIPED WITH TWO SCYTHES ALMOST THE SIZE OF A BUS, THEN ONE HAVING TWO CRAB-LIKE CLAWS LARGE ENOUGH TO ENGULF AN SUV AND THE OTHER POSSESSING A PAIR OF FOUR-DIGIT HANDS WITH RAZOR CLAWS, AND I QUOTE, “SHARP ENOUGH TO RIP THROUGH SOLID TITANIUM.”
    AS I SAID, WE WERE ALREADY DEAD—WE JUST HAVEN’T LAIN DOWN YET.

    JANUARY 4, 2053; 7:49AM
    THE ENORMOUS BEASTS WERE RELENTLESS. IT TOOK THEM LESS THAN TEN MINUTES TO DENT THE INSIDE OF THE WALL. WITH EVERY THUNDEROUS THUD OF ONE CRASHING INTO THE WALL, THE MEN OUTSIDE BELOW THE BALCONY ON WHICH I STOOD TWITCHED, SHIFTED THEIR WEIGHT, NEEDLESSLY EXAMINED THEIR GUNS, ANYTHING. THEY KNEW THEY WOULD DIE, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED.
    FINALLY, THERE WAS A HOLE LARGE ENOUGH FOR ME TO SEE THROUGH, AND WITH IT CAME A PUASE. THE MEN TRADED NERVOUS GLANCES. SUDDENLY, WITH A DEAFENING CRACK, THE WALL BURST, LETTING THROUGH THE TWO GIANTS, WHO WERE ACCOMPANIED BY THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF SMALLER CREATURES, SOME LIKE THE ONE THAT KILLED THE COMMANDER, OTHERS THAT THREW SPIKES OR SPIT POISON OR ACID, SOME WITH CLAWS THAT REALLY COULD RIP THROUGH TITANIUM, OR AT LEAST TANK ARMOR. THE TWO LARGER CREATURES STOMPED TOWARDS TH HEAVY ARTILLERY AND OTHER TANKS, SENDING THEM FLYING THROUGH THE AIR OR MERELY STEPPING ON THEM.
    BUT MY GAZE WAS CAUGHT ON ONE GIANT, UNLIKE THE TWO HERE: THE LEADER. AS I STARED, I COULD FEEL ITS BONE-CHILLING GLARE. FEAR BLURRED OUT THE SOUNDS OF MEN SCREAMING AND GUNS BLASTING AND CREATURES SNARLING AND GROWLING AND ROARING.
    SLOWLY, I BACKED AWAY, RUNNING THEN HERE, MY QUARTERS. THE BREACH WAS TWENTY MINUTES AGO, AT HALF PAST SEVEN.
    THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO TO STOP THIS INVASION. UNDOUBTEDLY, I WILL DIE SOON, SO I WANT TO MAKE IT VERY CLEAR TO ANYONE WHO READS THIS: IF YOU SEE ONE OF THESE MOSTERS, RUN. IF THERE IS ONE, THERE ARE MORE, AND YOU CANNOT KILL THEM ALL. WITH THAT, I—WHAT?
    TE-TE-TE-TE-TE-TE-TE-TE-TE-TEH.
    THEY’RE HERE.

    <SYSTEM ERROR: CANNOT COMPUTE: SYSTEM CANNOT TRANSLATE COMMAND; PLEASE SAY AGAIN>

    OH MY—

    <SYSTEM ERROR: CANNOT COMPUTE: SYSTEM CANNOT TRANSLATE COMMAND; PLEASE SAY AGAIN>

    <ERROR confused >

    <LTCOMM_JONAH_K_FOX/LOG_JOURNAL/JOURNAL&ENTRY/JAN&4&2025_756A/COMMAND/SPEECH&TRANSLATION/COMMAND_ERROR?>

    LOGGING OFF

    “Lieutenant Commander Jonah Fox,” the man smiled after reading the log, “you have just confirmed everything I needed to know and more.” Then he called to one of the two recruits, “Terryl, call the President: tell him the package is ready to be deployed.”
    There was a quiet series of clicking below him, and he reached down to scratch the little creature’s head, and was answered by soft purring. Then he stood and left, the smirk of success painting his face.
    The two recruits followed in silence.



    That was Dead Fortress. Now, the following is something I did combining Dead Fortress with a small aspect of a short story I wrote called The Secret of the Sahara. Here is: 2053....




    2053


    TWO WEEKS AFTER OPERATION DESIGNATE: DEAD FORTRESS
    They had been first tested in January on a US Marine fortress in the Middle East, which had previously been the deciding factor in a twenty-year war. Now, it lay in ruin. After that, the President had authorized deployment in newly fascist China, and then another after Russia discovered and threatened to expose their secret; Beijing and Moscow now lay as a graveyard—along with everything in a hundred mile radius on land.
    At a US military base in the Sahara, two men stationed in the heat waited two hours without hearing from anyone inside the concrete underground buildings, until one of the solid steel doors dented outward, a trickle of blood leaking out. Inside, military scientists had found too late that the creatures divided like virus; too late to reveal the secret known then only to the Sahara.

    SOME DAYS LATER
    “Approximately one hour ago, a cargo ship crashed into Boston Harbor at forty-five nautical miles per hour. Little is known at the moment, but we have received early reports just after the accident that the vessel had not responded to harbor control. All communication from Boston and the surrounding area has ceased. Whether this was a terrorist attack or if it has anything to do with the communication blackout with most of Europe, Asia, and Africa, we don’t know—”
    There was a small click! As the radio station was changed.
    “What the crap?” the new announcer spat. “So what if no one from that side of the world except Norway, Sweden, and Australia want to talk to us anymore? Hasn’t anyone realized that the greater majority of’em hate us anyway?” click!
    “Whatever this is, it apparently doesn’t seem to like cold places. Maybe it’s a virus; some of those don’t survive in cold, right? As for Australia, it’s probably too far away. So, if it hits us, I’d head strait to Alaska or Canada, or even take a nice vacation to Hawaii—.”
    With another click, the radio was silent. “Damn, that’s all they ever talk about on the radio anymore, y’know,” Derek complained. He sat in the driver’s seat of his Jeep Wrangler in inching traffic going into Washington, DC. Jen sat in the passenger seat, using the side mirror to study herself as she fixed with her dyed black hair, the fifth time in the past hour. Bobby impatiently drummed his fingers in the backseat.
    Suddenly, Jen jerked, “Whoa, what was that?”
    “What?” Bobby questioned, eager to take his mind off boredom for anything.
    “I—I don’t know; I saw something running across the road.” As if on cue, a car alarm began blaring, soon joined by another, and another. In the mirror, Jen could see cars rocking back and forth, then something pale white jump onto the hood of an SUV. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed.
    “What?” Bobby repeated, then looked back just in time to see another creature smash into the windshield of the car two behind them. “What the hell?” he jumped out, as other people came up with the same idea as they spilled out of their cars and flooded down the road. Slowly, Jen and Derek stepped out, looking back. After a moment, a woman stepped out of her car, bleeding. The next instant, a bone-white blur leapt into her, snarling and snapping. That was all the motivation the trio needed to run.
    People around them pushed, tripped, and fell victim to other bone-white creatures, each different in one way or another, but they did not stop until they had reached the city, panting. To get away from the torrent of people, Derek led them down alleyways that would take them away from the smaller creatures to something much worse…

    ONE HOUR LATER
    The Derek, Jen, and Bobby found themselves in Lafayette Park. “C’mon!” Derek shouted, running with a renewed burst of energy.
    “Where are you going?” Jen demanded, putting emphasis on every word, but Derek didn’t answer.
    “Uh, do you think we should follow him?” Bobby asked, to which Jen sighed and started after Derek—until he hopped the fence to the White House.
    “Derek you idiot!” Jen shouted furiously, but when they reached the gate and Bobby cleared easily, although he had to help Jen get over to the other side. By the time they caught up with him, he was arguing with two security guards.
    “There are frickin’…things out there! They are killing everyone! You have to—.”
    “Sir, you have to calm down,” one of the security guards replied, not making the slightest attempt to cover his impatience.
    “You don’t understand!” Derek shouted, startling himself and the two guards. “These things are killing people! The could be here any min—.”
    He froze to a series of guttural clicking above them, backing up to see what it was. Just then, a lizard-like monster about twelve feet long flew into the guard through the empty space that Derek had just left. The second guard pulled out a hand gun and fired at the creature even as it tore chunks of flesh off the other, but the bullets bounced off. An alarm began ringing inside the White House, and other guards ran out to the front, armed with M-40s, but nothing could penetrate its skin as it feasted on the corpse. Another set of clicking, lighter and faster than the first, cut into the air, and turned into a snarl as another creature—toad-like with a crocodilian snout and scythes for hands—landed next to the lizard and charged the shooting men, leading other bizarre creatures into the crossfire.
    “Let’s get out of here!” Derek shouted over the noise, and began running off, followed by the other two after Jen picked up the second man’s gun which had been thrown through the air when the stampede knocked him down. Bobby did not stop her, although they both knew it was useless, only a comfort, a false gesture of safety.
    Halfway to the fence, Bobby spotted a group of heavily armed guards circled around a group of men running towards a mound in the ground. “It’s a bomb shelter—it’s gotta be!” he shouted.
    With that, they sped towards it. The doors opened. The guards—who could be distinguished as soldiers now—formed a ring around it as the few chosen men carefully stepped inside. They were just yards away when one of the soldiers yelled, “Stop!”
    “For Christ’s sake, let them in!” shouted a voice from inside.
    “Yes, sir!” he replied, waving for them. At that second, there was a crash as a giant creature, monstrous with two scythes and two crab-like claws simply stepped on the far side of the White House, releasing a bellowing roar.
    The three were startled into a run, almost knocking over the President while doing so. Right before she disappeared below the ground, Jen looked up just in time to see a tank wheel up and fire over at the giant, only then to be kicked aside by another similar monster. Then the doors closed, and there was only darkness.
    “Is there a light in here?” Derek asked.
    “Son,” it was the President, “these things are too smart. They hit the power plant about ten minutes ago.” He sighed, and then whispered so low Jen thought she imagined it, “I never should have allowed that b*****d to make these abominations.”
    Muffled gunfire rang overhead, and then was silenced. For several long minutes, nothing happened, until there was a disturbing scraping sound on the doors over them. Everyone backed away, as told by the quick shuffling of feet.
    Jen raised the gun, useless as it was.
    With a deafening thunder, a giant scythe smashed through the steel doors as if they were plastic, cracking the solid concrete steps. When it lifted, a single frog-like creature leapt inside.
    In just a few seconds, Derek, Bobby, and most of the other men were dead, but somehow Jen had got a lucky shot in its eye. The President was only bitten, and she was soaked with human blood, but otherwise they were fine.
    They waited. In a matter of a couple minutes, the President’s blood had turned into red water, flowing from his wound like a waterfall.
    Less than a minute later, he was dead.
    Jen waited.
    Nothing came for two days. She stepped outside in the open, finding very little standing.
    She would also find living in a world with no other living person was harder than dying.