Pulse

THIRTY-SIX

Ignoring the potential threat from rampaging regens, King heaved the green, scaly George Pierce over his shoulder and made for the stairs, leading with his handgun. He couldn't believe the state of his friend. And though he tried not to think about what Pierce had become, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was his fault. But at his core he knew it wasn't. It was Richard Ridley and Manifold that ultimately had to answer for what had happened to his friend. Without their actions none of this would be happening, and Pierce would still be… human.

King kicked the staircase door open. Shadows shifted on the flight above. He could hear flesh rending from bones and more than one voice moaning in pleasure from the feast. He backed out of the stairway, not wanting to tempt fate by engaging undying enemies with Pierce on his shoulder. His aim, balance, and speed would be off.

A sign at the end of the hallway pointed to the elevators. If they still worked, they might be the only way back up. After a quick run, he rounded the corner to the elevators and slid to a stop, the barrel of an UMP pressed against his forehead.

"Shit, King, I nearly took your head off," Queen said, lowering her aim.

King immediately noticed Bishop standing next to Queen, leaning against the wall. "Bishop?"

"Captured. End of story." Bishop said, then pointed to Pierce. "Who's this?"

King turned to the side, revealing Pierce's scaled face. "George. They did… something to him."

Bishop frowned and shook his head in disbelief.

An explosion shook the floors above. King pushed the elevator's call button.

"Elevator crapped out," Queen said. "We need to take the stairs." "They're occupied."

"Not for long," she said, moving around the corner, weapon raised.

"Let me take him," Bishop said. "I'm stronger."

King noticed Bishop's forehead covered in perspiration. He couldn't remember ever seeing Bishop sweat, even in hot and humid weather. The man's body seemed built to handle high temperatures, but now… "You don't look so well."

"Damnit, King." Bishop pulled Pierce from his shoulder and hoisted him up and over his own, handling Pierce's weight as though he were nothing more than a small child. "I'm fine."

A staccato of gunfire ripped down the hallway, followed by Queen's voice. "Clear!"

King didn't like that Bishop had so brazenly taken Pierce, not because he was wrong to do so — he was stronger… a lot stronger — but first, the forceful approach was out of character, and second, Pierce was his burden to bear. But he couldn't argue with the fact that Bishop carrying Pierce made sense. "Let's go."

The group ran up the stairwell, avoiding slippery pools of blood along the way. As King took in deep breaths he couldn't tell which was better, breathing through his nose and smelling the thick coppery odor of blood, or breathing through his mouth and tasting it. As they reached the top floor, a series of explosions shook from below

The place was coming apart.

"Go, go, go!" King shouted as he ran for the open exit. He hopped over the two headless regens he'd shot when he entered and stepped into the courtyard. A series of booms grew louder. Closer.

"Get down!" Bishop shouted, realizing the main building was next in line to be blown apart. He opened his arms and scooped King and Queen into a great bear hug, falling to the ground on top of them and Pierce.

A massive explosion shook the ground and burst the windows on the remaining floors of the main building. Then, with its foundation liquefied, it imploded, shooting out glass and metal shrapnel. Bishop grunted as the debris struck his back.

Muffled explosions continued to sound out in the distance, but the courtyard grew still. Bishop pushed himself up off the others, jaw clenched in pain. He fell to the side, unable to walk.

Queen rolled up and knelt beside him. "You dumb son of a bitch. Why'd you do that?"

"I'll live." He pushed himself up, tore off his shredded shirt and then his flak jacket. Glass and debris clung to it, some pierced all the way through. Bishop inspected it. So did Queen.

She looked at Bishop's back. "You been saying your prayers, Bish? You didn't get a scratch."

Bishop had his eyes clenched shut tight. His eyelids twitched like he was reliving a bad dream. Then he stopped, opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "If God is looking out for me it's not because of anything I've done."

A boom that put the destruction of the main building to shame rocked the entire island. It was followed by a bright orange glow from above. King looked toward the noise and found an unreal sight. Gouts of bright orange lava spewed from the cone of Tristan da Cunha's volcano. A plume of ash rose up and mushroomed in the sky above the island. Rivers of magma poured from fresh blast holes on the side of the volcano, flowing hot and fast. Pyriphlegethon, the mythological river of lava had been unleashed on earth.

That is their exit strategy, King thought. The total destruction of the island.

King could tell by the speed and direction of the flowing lava that the Manifold facility and the whole of Edinburgh would soon be wiped out. Erased from existence. And long before they had time to run through town to the docks. He turned to Queen and Bishop, who had already thrown Pierce back over his shoulder, and said, "Stay close."

After leading them across the courtyard, ever wary of lurking re-gens, King opened the metal door leading to the submarine bay. He motioned them through, shouting, "Haul ass to the end. We'll figure out the next step when we get there."

Queen led the way, followed by Bishop.

King looked back and found a wall of lava eating through the back side of the facility's wall. It would slow the advance, but not for long. He slammed the metal door closed and locked it tight, praying it would take some time for the lava to melt through. He sprinted down the long cement hallway, its lights flickering as the facility's power died. He caught up with the others as they reached the end of the hallway and the second metal door. Bishop kicked the door open as the ground began to shake more violently. The volcano was hemorrhaging lava. With everyone through the door, King turned to close and seal it. He paused, looking down the hallway where the other end glowed bright orange.

He slammed the door shut and locked it. He turned, facing the others and the submarine docking cave. A cement L-shaped platform held several lockers, tool chests, and storage bins, but there was no clear mode of egress from the interior of the cave. "It's too far to swim out. Look for oxygen tanks, rebreathers, anything."

The lights blinked.

King dove for the nearest lockers, tearing them open and pouring through the contents. Queen joined him. After the first three, the lights went out. With no source of illumination, the bay plunged into total darkness.

Then the darkness ebbed, pushed away by a subtle glow as the metal door began heating from the other side. In the dim orange light, Queen found a flashlight and turned it on, handing a second to King.

"Time is running out," Bishop said, pointing to the metal door. A trickle of molten liquid leaked through a hole at the door's base. Then another.

King flung open a long metal chest. "Here!" He pulled out a sleek, black X-Scooter CSI diver propulsion vehicle and handed it to Bishop. The small handheld machine could pull the two men through the water faster than either could swim. They would make it out alive… in fact, he wasn't sure Pierce could even drown and knew Bishop could hold his breath for minutes. "Get him out of here."

Bishop nodded and headed for the black pool of seawater. He jumped into the water, sank beneath the surface, and disappeared with Pierce.

King moved to the next chest and flung it open. Empty.

"Strip and swim, boss," Queen said as she shed her fatigues, weapons, and cartridge belt.

Lava burst through the door, moving like warm honey across the cement floor. A wave of heat filled the space. King tore his clothes from his body as Queen popped the thumb drive into her mouth and dove into the water dressed in her jet black boyshorts and sports bra. As King discarded his pants and stood in his boxer briefs, he saw a pair of swim fins in an open locker. The far end of the locker was already melting into the lava. He acted without thinking, racing against the flow of lava, he grabbed the fins, raced back to the edge, and dove high just as the lava ate the cement at his feet and spilled into the pool. King struck the water and slid away fast and deep. As his momentum slowed, he put on the swim fins and kicked hard into the water, keenly aware that the cave glowed bright around him where it had been pitch-black before. He was even more aware of the water's rising temperature. If he didn't drown, he'd soon be boiled like a lobster.

King gained on Queen thanks to the swim fins. They were fifty feet from the exit, which stood out as a dim, moonlit circle. King pointed to his feet and reached a hand out to Queen. She saw the fins, nodded, and took his hand. They kicked together, increasing their speed. Twenty feet from the tunnel exit, King saw a thick drip of something sinking through the water. A flurry of bubbles flew away from the object as it descended. Then a second, larger blob sunk past. The lava had reached the island's edge ahead of them.

King kicked harder, his legs and lungs burning, as a small stream of lava oozed into the water to their right, filling the ocean with steaming bubbles. King watched the bubbles burst and expand as a second stream of lava struck. They'd be trapped in seconds.

A shadow shot out of the depths like a hunting shark, moving fast and fluid. King fought the urge to stop swimming and face the object, whether it be shark or torpedo, but with gouts of lava about to rain down from above, he kept on kicking… and waiting for death to come from above, or below.