“Why pest control?”
John frowned. It was the question he hated most during dates because there was no good answer. At least none of the answers he gave in the past had been good answers.
Looking at the beautiful young woman across from him he really wanted to get the answer right this time.
“It’s hard to explain, but I feel like in a way I’m making people feel safer in their homes.”
The woman titled her head to one side but remained silent, so John continued.
“People like their homes to be safe and secure places, somewhere they can go to when the world is crazy and they want to feel comfortable. But when people find out their home has been invaded by rats, spiders, insects, or whatever else is lurking behind the walls they don’t feel comfortable, they don’t feel safe. It’s a reminder that the evils of the world can get them, even behind their walls.”
“So by removing the pests you give them that sense of safety. The belief that their home is something they can control and feel protected in.”
John smiled.
“Exactly.”
The woman smiled a moment before she suddenly started laughing quietly to herself.
“What’s so funny?”
She shook her head and gave him an apologetic look.
“When my friend set me up on this date, I was nervous. Especially when she told me you were in pest control. I was so worried you were going to say something creepy, like it’s one of the few jobs where you’re allowed to kill things or something.”
John laughed back.
“I get where you’re coming from, and if I’m being perfectly honest I’ve met a few guys in this industry who are like that.”
As her laughter faded off, she gave him a curious look.
“I know I’m being nosy, but what was it that got you to start with pest control? I mean if you wanted people to feel safe in their own homes you could have been a policeman or security guard or something, why pest control specifically?”
John leaned back on the bench. Looking around at the park they were in he watched a few kids playing as he debated whether or not to tell her the truth. Glancing back at her, something inside told him it would be ok to tell her, so he did.
“When I was ten, I had to spend my first night alone ever. I don’t really remember why my parents were gone, but I knew they wouldn’t be back until the morning.”
“Anyway, I was falling asleep when I heard something in the wall by my headboard. I got out of bed and checked the bathroom on the other side but there was nothing there. When I tried to sleep again, I heard it, quick movements like something was rushing along the wall towards my head.”
John shook his head slowly as he recalled the memory.
“It completely freaked me out and I spent the whole night in my parent’s room with the lights on and a baseball bat under the covers with me. Any time I fell asleep I had nightmares that some invisible creature was crawling along the wall towards my sleeping body.”
“Sounds terrifying,” murmured the young woman.
“When my parents came home in the morning I told them what happened. My dad called an exterminator and he opened up the wall. It turned out a mouse had set up a nest in the wall right by my headboard, I was hearing it moving around inside the wall. The thing was likely scared of me moving around in my room and was darting back and forth in the walls looking for safety.”
Tapping the table between them he smiled.
“I realized that I was scared because I didn’t know what was going on. That big scary invisible monster was just a scared little mouse in the wall. It took someone peeling the wall open to find out what was really going on and make it less scary.”
He shrugged.
“So I guess it’s a combination of both answers. I wanted people to feel safe in their own homes and the best way I knew how to do that was to peel back the wall and show them there really wasn’t anything to be afraid of.”
The woman smiled and John felt like he had given her two solid answers. Now if he could keep his mouth shut the date would be a good one and likely lead to a second date.
“I guess it’s a good thing it was just a mouse.”
John titled his head.
“I just mean that if it had been something threatening, like a big poisonous snake or something, it probably would have traumatized you as a kid. Knowing that something so dangerous was right by you when you slept.”
“That’s the other beauty of my job,” he replied, “there are times when I do get rid of things that are dangerous.”
She smiled a moment and nodded in agreement.
“Alright, I’ll promise to stop interrogating you. It’s obvious you’re a good guy and not some weirdo.”
“Well I wouldn’t get too comfortable just yet.”
He relished the strange look she was giving him after he said that. It was like she was waiting for him to make a joke and hoping he’d make one at the same time.
“I’ve been told putting honey butter on vanilla ice cream is weird.”
She laughed.
“You know that does sound weird,” she said smiling, “but I’d be down to try it on our next date.”
John caught the flash of panic in her eyes after she said that and pretended to ignore the look of embarrassment on her face.
“That sounds good.”
He gave her a warm smile and she reciprocated with an appreciative smile of her own.
“At the risk of butchering this, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
He sighed.
“What was your name again?”
She giggled.
“It’s Salem.”
#
The woman was pacing back and forth across her office. John watched her patiently as she processed all of the information he had just relayed to her. Any sane person would have walked out of the room after all the nonsense he just said. But he had the feeling she wasn’t entirely sane and it wasn’t like there was a way to walk out of this room.
“Form what you’ve told me,” she said slowly, “it sounds like a massive containment failure, larger than any I’ve ever heard of since I’ve been here.”
She shook her head and paused her pacing.
“Entirely speculation here, but I’m assuming that the rapid response teams are either busy engaging with the more lethal Anomalies, are incapacitated, or unable to get to where they need.”
Rolling her head back she stared at the ceiling.
“Considering sections of the facility are seemingly relocating themselves at random it could be safe to assume they couldn’t reach the armories, or they’re too separated to muster a proper defense.”
She shook her head again and resumed pacing.
“How the hell could so much go so wrong so quickly?”
John fidgeted uncomfortably on the desk chair. He still felt awkward sitting on it with his naked backside, but the alternative was to risk exposing himself to the woman and that was less tolerable in his mind.
“I need to reconvene with my team.”
“Your team?”
She nodded.
“They need to know what’s going on before they try to return back to the base.”
“How are you going to do that?”
She looked at him thoughtfully, ignoring the question.
“But first I need to decide what to do with you.”
John leaned back in the chair. He was frustrated by the woman’s coldness towards him, especially considering he warned her of a major disaster she knew nothing about. It was almost as if she slotted him into a permanent place of distrust in her mind once she found out he was on death row.
“You going to put me in time out?”
She frowned.
“I’m not entirely sure you can be trusted. I don’t know that taking you to another dimension you can escape from is a good idea…but I’m not exactly keen on leaving you in my office unsupervised.”
“So put a bullet in my head,” he said flatly, “that way you’ll know where I am when you leave and I’ll be waiting for you when you come back.”
It was eerie that she had no visible response to the comment. At the least he was wanting it to sting and cause her to feel guilty. Instead she was either ignoring it or giving it serious consideration.
“Why were you being executed?”
“Does it matter?”
She hesitated.
“I think it does.”
He huffed and leaned forward in the chair.
“Only if you believe me.”
“You’re worried I wouldn’t believe you if you said you were innocent of the crime you were charged with.”
“No,” said John, pausing at the look of curiosity and mild surprise that showed on her face, “because I honestly can’t tell you if I’m guilty or not.”
“Why not?”
“My memory of that night doesn’t paint a clear picture of what happened.”
“Because you repressed the event in your mind to avoid any guilt or you were so traumatized your brain eradicated the memory to protect itself?”
John chewed on that for a moment.
“I’m not sure…”
The woman paused at the wall and tapped it thoughtfully with one hand.
“Look,” John said considering his words carefully, “I don’t want to stay here because I don’t want to be cornered when something starts sniffing around.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“This is a pocket dimension of my own design. Access is strictly controlled by myself and no one knows it even exists.”
John raised an eyebrow, partially because he wasn’t entirely sure what a pocket dimension was, let alone what she meant by saying she built it. But more importantly there was a flaw in her line of thinking.
The woman frowned at his reaction before it clicked.
“You’re worried that because you got in here, something else might.”
“You could say that.”
She nodded looking around.
“Taking you off world is a direct violation of protocol,” she gave him a knowing glance, “though you have been doing some exploring on your own already.”
“Look,” John said in frustration, “there’s no telling what’s going on or even if your team is safe…wherever it is they are. As far as I’m concerned we’re the only two people who are for sure alive that has any idea of what’s going on.”
He stood up slowly, ensuring his hospital gown left him covered.
“I may not know a whole lot about what’s going on, but I can watch your back. In exchange I ask that you tell me what you know, or at least what I need to know, and watch my back. Once we get through this, whatever this is, you can decide what to do with me.”
She tapped the wall again, a frown on her face.
“I’m only asking for the chance to survive.”
Inwardly he was cringing at his words, but it seemed the last statement had an impact on her because she stopped tapping the wall.
“I don’t fully trust you, but I trust that you see it in your best interest to keep me alive.”
“That’s a good point, for starters I have no idea how to leave this place.
She smiled.
“Alright, I’ll take you to my team and we’ll coordinate with them on what to do.”
“Sounds good.”
“Though I have to warn you that they might have a different idea on what to do with you.”
This felt like a weight had dropped on his shoulders and he rolled his head in frustration trying to shake it off.
“Understood,” he said, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.
“Let me gather some things and we’ll go.”
“Can I ask a favor?”
She was stepping towards the storage room and paused, giving him an eyebrow.
“Any chance you have a pair of pants I could borrow?”
She glanced down at him and smiled in what John hoped was sympathy and not amusement, though he suspected it was a bit of both.
“I think I have a pair of sweats, just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Burn them when you’re done with them.”
#
John muttered under his breath as he gently pulled at the fabric that seemed insistent on creeping into his backside. He was able to get the black pair of sweatpants on, but they were an extremely tight fit. Even thinking of moving caused everything to ride up and chafe. It was better than being naked, but only a little. There was zero hope the shirt she had would have worked in any fashion so he kept he hospital gown on.
“Problems?”
Glancing over at the woman he was annoyed to see a ghost of a smile on her lips. Gritting his teeth he adjusted the backpack on his shoulders so it sat higher up, covering his naked back.
“Just wondering how much a proctologist will charge to remove these sweats.”
She bit her lip and turned her face away for a moment. When she turned back John was pleased to see a bit of color in her face as if she’d been silently laughing.
“Somebody with my team is bound to have an extra pair of pants that’ll probably fit you. And probably a shirt so you don’t have to wear that gown anymore.”
“A thong would be more comfortable at this point. Seriously which children’s clothing store did you get these from?”
“Alright,” she said, struggling to keep a straight face, “pay attention.”
He nodded, resisting the urge to adjust the pants again.
“This device will allow us to jump from this pocket dimension to another of my choosing. I’ve set it to take us to the base camp of my team on the dimension we were exploring. When I activate it I’ll step through first and you’ll follow as soon as I’ve dissipated. If you wait too long the rift will deactivate and you’ll risk only having a part of your body make the journey or missing the boat entirely.”
“Should I go first then?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for a stranger to randomly appear in the center of base camp.”
“Point taken. How long do I have to step through?”
“A few seconds is all. It costs a tremendous amount of energy to create a rift and the device takes quite a while to recharge. A few seconds is all we need and it conserves energy in case I need to reuse it again.”
“What’s the plan once we get to the other side?”
She hesitated and a dark look came across her face.
“I’ll relay to my team everything you’ve told me and we’ll see.”
“You’re still worried they won’t warm up to me.”
“You have to understand,” she said pointedly, “I haven’t received any legitimate confirmation that what you’re saying is true. I believe you because my contact at the main offices never responded, but most of my team doesn’t exactly know I have that connection.”
“Why’s that?”
“To put it simply…it’s a major breach of protocol.”
“Like you have a boyfriend and you shouldn’t?”
“Certain departments aren’t allowed to communicate with each other for security purposes. We’ve had issues in the past with employees coordinating together to steal Anomalies or help others break in. In fact us staging a rescue operation is considered a breach of that protocol as we’re not allowed anywhere near certain containment sectors without express permission, but I’m hoping the company overlooks it considering there’s bigger fish to fry.”
Before he could say anything else she started typing something into the small egg shaped device in her hands. She then carefully pointed it towards the floor and waited. On the floor where she had been pointing a small blue disk appeared roughly the size of a coaster. As he watched it quickly grew to the size of a hula hoop.
“It’s about a seven-foot drop so brace yourself when you jump through.”
“Jump?”
The woman jumped into the center of the circle with her feet together and promptly vanished through the floor. John stared in disbelief before quickly remembering what she’d said and jumped through after her.
It was like sliding through a bowl of electrified pudding before he landed on something hard that cried out when he hit it. The obstacle sent him tumbling and he fell on his back on hard ground.
“Ouch,” the woman hissed next to him on the ground, “what was that for?”
“You said to follow you immediately,” John said sitting up, wincing at the spot where the backpack had jammed into his spine.
“I said wait a few seconds then jump. That was meant to give me time to get out of the way.”
“Well I wasn’t aware we were jumping,” John said as he rolled his shoulders and tilted his head to one side trying to pop his neck.”
“I told you the device would let us jump from one dimension to another.”
“I didn’t think it was literal I thought it was-.”
The words died on John’s lips as he took in his surroundings and his jaw dropped. In their immediate vicinity were four large square tents, but they were in the middle of a large field of purple rock. It reminded him of the Arizona badlands, but after someone had painted them the color of violets. The air was an odd greenish blue and he felt heavy, as if someone was pushing down on his shoulders.
He looked over to see the woman smiling at him, pleased at his reaction.
“Welcome to MW-248.”
John blinked
“Or,” she said frowning, “Rogers’ Field.”
“Rogers’ Field?”
“Well it’s obvious you don’t have any proper taste in music.”
John quickly rose to his feet and turned to the man who spoke. He was a black man about his height but with twice the muscle. His arms were folded and he was looking at John curiously.
“Who’s the…” he hesitated as if just noticing the hospital gown and tight sweats, “hobo?”
John frowned but didn’t necessarily disagree with his assessment. Anyone with a nose could probably smell him right now.
“This is John,” said the woman slowly, “I met him in my office earlier.”
The man raised an eyebrow and met the woman’s gaze.
“How the hell did he do that?”
“It’s quite the story. But that’s less important than the bad news he’s brought me.”
“What’s that?”
“Darkshield has suffered a massive containment breach.”
The man scoffed and rocked a little on his feet.
“You act like that’s news. It seems every month or so something gets loose. Don’t they have a dozen reacquisitions teams set aside for that?”
“No Marcus, I mean multiple breaches across departments with the majority of employees MIA.”
Marcus raised both eyebrows and stopped rocking on the balls of his feet.
“No shit?”
“He’s seen the Ripper out of containment.”
John turned to the woman wondering who she was talking about, but quickly turned back to look at Marcus when he saw the man’s reaction. It was as if a dark storm cloud had rolled in and his brown eyes flashed dangerously. John suddenly felt very nervous being in the man’s presence.
“Tell me you’re kidding Nel.”
She shook her head.
Marcus gave John a piercing glare.
“What exactly did you see?”
John shot a glance at Nel’s direction.
“The man who could tear himself apart.”
Nodding in understanding John met Marcus’s fierce gaze again.
“I was in an atrium inside Darkshield when a man appeared looking like one of the researchers. When my friend attacked him he would rip his body apart to dodge the attacks before reforming them. It was like he was made out of paper or something and would simply put himself back together after.”
“Where is he now?”
“Last I knew he was separated into pieces underground in that atrium, but I can’t honestly say if he’s still there or not.”
Marcus’s eyes darted to one side and John was grateful for the respite. After a moment he met Nel’s gaze.
“We need to gather the team and go after him.”
“We don’t have the manpower or the equipment and you know it.”
“Then we’ll get both.”
He started to walk away, but Nel stepped forward and quickly grabbed his arm.
“Marcus its not the only thing to break containment. According to John at least three other possible Red Class Anomalies are running around the facility. The facility has even started rearranging itself with doors and rooms appearing and disappearing at random.”
Marcus turned back with his eyes wide.
“Why haven’t we heard anything?”
“I don’t know,” then in a whisper she hissed, “I didn’t even get a response from Chips.”
Interestingly this caused the strongest reaction from Marcus who seemed to go pale at the news. It was a disturbing thing watching a man go from incredibly intimidating to terrified in a matter of minutes.
“I think we need to convene with some of the other off world teams if possible to see if they’ve heard anything and then coordinate with them to enter the facility.”
“I agree,” said Marcus slowly, looking over at John, “If the facility is being rearranged somehow than many things have likely broken containment and security will have a hell of a time responding to each threat. If it’s even possible anymore.”
“Let’s get everyone together and connect with Gray Matter first, if anyone will have an idea of what’s going on or where to locate the other teams it’ll be them.”
Marcus nodded, his eyes still on John.
“What do you want to do with him?”
Nel looked over at John for a moment before looking back to Marcus.
“I think we should take him along.”
Marcus jerked his head back and John had a similar reaction.
“I was uh…kind of hoping you’d leave me here while you figured this out. Or send me back to somewhere sane on Earth or something.”
Marcus shook his head and answered before Nel could.
“Absolutely not. You know a lot about Darkshield and our offworld operations already, company policy says you should either be terminated or contracted for life.”
“Look man,” said John angrily, “I didn’t ask for any of this and I’ve been through enough hell. Your company basically kidnapped me so I don’t give a damn what their policy states.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed and John was surprised at how well he held the man’s gaze.
“I could shoot you right now and not suffer any consequences for it. You’re lucky a life contract is even on the table at this point.”
“Enough Marcus,” said Nel pointedly, “the reason I think he should come along is he survived the Shelf unaided.”
Marcus immediately broke eye contact with John and stared at Nel in disbelief.
“Say again?”
“He was absorbed by a purple orb and taken there. His mind was hijacked by a Memory Fisher and he manually extracted himself from the illusion.”
Marcus’s eyes darted between Nel and John.
“That’s not possible.”
“He said he found flaws in the re-creation of the memories and this helped him escape the illusion. He then wandered around the Shelf until he found another purple orb that took him to my office.”
“And you just believe him,” said Marcus in a suspicious tone, “he could be making it up.”
“Then explain how he got in my office.”
The silence lasted for several seconds as Marcus processed this, likely trying to come up with an answer. When none came he shook his head, running a hand across his face.
“Alright, you want to bring him that’s fine. But you’ll have to convince the rest of the team.”
“That’s fine.”
“You’ll have to convince me too you know,” said John pointedly.
Nel was about to respond when several gunshots rang out. Marcus swiveled his head to the source of the sound and spoke into a radio by his neck.
“Dimitri what the hell’s going on?”
“Sir we need you down here asap.”
“What do you-.”
More gunshots rang out and John thought he heard screaming.
“Sir we need you now!”
Growling Marcus darted into one of the tents and came out holding two assault rifles John couldn’t identify. He tossed one to Nel and both of them started running towards the direction of the gunfire.
John stood in the base camp watching them run, wondering if he should follow or take the opportunity to escape. Looking around at his purple surroundings he quickly ruled out the last option. Ducking his head into the tent he didn’t see any other assault rifles, but he spotted a pistol.
Snagging it he saw that it was similar to one he used to own but modified in ways he couldn’t begin to understand. Once he was able to ensure it was loaded and he could turn the safety off he stared at Marcus and Nel running in the distance.
Taking a deep breath John ran a hand through his hair. Satisfied everything was still real he charged after them.
Author’s Note:
I hope you’re enjoying Darkshield: John’s Arc 2. A new chapter comes out free every week and next week’s chapter will be available on November 16, 2020.
If you enjoy receiving it in serial fashion than feel free to support the project through Patreon. You can find a community of readers like you who enjoy this world I’m creating and want to see it grow by providing whatever support they can. My Patreon page can be found by clicking here.
Finally, if your finances are tight right now or you have mixed feelings about the book and aren’t sure you want to support a weirdo, then keep reading for free as the chapters come out every week. I’m doing this for fun and I’m appreciative of anyone who’s coming along for the ride.