It became quickly apparent to John that he wasn’t nearly in as good of shape as Marcus or Nel. In a short time he was feeling winded and the two kept running full tilt until they vanished out of sight behind a cluster of rocks at the base of a plateau.
Panting, John shook his head as he ran.
“Why do I feel so heavy here,” he murmured aloud, “It’s like I just gained forty pounds.”
A scatter of gunfire rang out and John was unnerved by how close it was. Not for the first time he wondered at the wisdom in chasing down these two strangers on what they claimed was a different dimension running towards some unknown danger.
This time the doubt won out and he slowed to a stop, hunched over, and struggling to regain his breath.
“This is crazy. What am I doing?”
There was more gunfire followed by shouting. John slowly stood up and started walking towards the commotion.
“There’s a team of…who knows how many people, probably better trained and certainly in better shape handling this,” he said quietly to himself between ragged breaths, “what are you going to do with your little pistol that’s going to be of any help?”
He was probably a hundred yards from where Marcus and Nel disappeared when something lumbered around the corner. John’s eyes went wide as what he could only describe as a beast appeared into view.
Its hair hung down in long matted chunks, almost like dreadlocks. It was a yellowish-brown color and roughly the size of a bus. It had eight dog-like limbs down the length of its long body that it ran on at incredible speed.
A pair of red triangular eyes locked onto him, the thing chuffed like a tiger, and seemed to increase its speed. John fumbled with the gun in his hand as he tried to flick what he assumed was the safety off and aimed the weapon at it.
Taking a breath, he squeezed the trigger and was unprepared for the donkey-like kick of the gun and the loud crack as it fired. The bullet caught one of the thing’s front shoulders and it snarled as red blood poured from the wound.
Alarmed at how close the creature was John repositioned his grip, prepared for the kick, and started firing off several rounds as fast as his finger would let him. Wounds blossomed across the creature as he fired until one opened up on its head between its eyes and with a snarl it stumbled.
The creature slide across the ground taking out John at the knees with one of its legs. He went down hard and the gun flew out of his hands as he fell. With a shout he scrambled to his feet as the creature fought to get upright as well.
A horrid stench wafted off the creature that was nearly enough to make John pass out. Gagging and trying to hold his breath he glanced around wildly for the weapon.
“Get down!”
John dove for the ground and a split second later a hail of bullets swarmed through the air and into the beast behind him. It shrieked and kicked before succumbing to the onslaught and lay still.
Standing up John watched as Marcus and some tall lanky man ran towards him.
“Expose it’s belly!”
“What?”
“Move it’s legs and expose the belly!”
Not fully understanding but sensing the urgency in the man’s voice John turned to the creature. Its body was riddled with bullet wounds and blood was pooling thickly on the ground around it. Grimacing John reached down and moved a surprisingly heavy leg away from the creature’s stomach. He gasped once it was out of the way.
A few moments later Marcus and the mysterious man with him were at his side pulling the legs aside with ease. In a short amount of time they had moved the four legs that had been curled up around the creature’s hairy stomach.
Marcus drew a large knife from his belt and started hacking away at the creature’s hair to expose the belly further. The man with him took out his own knife and followed suit. Within seconds they had shaved a large section down to the dark brown skin.
To John’s horror Marcus then stabbed the knife into the flesh and sawed a foot-long cut in the creature’s abdomen. He then plunged his arm into the opening and felt around inside.
“Here! Dimitri help me open the hole wider!”
The two men cut and pulled the creature’s flesh back until there was an opening large enough for a person to enter. Sure enough Marcus plunged into the opening as Dimitri held the skin back for him.
John sensed people around him and turned to see Nel approaching with three others.
“Anything?” she shouted.
Dimitri shook his head and there was no response from Marcus. Suddenly the man appeared covered in gore with a small figure in his arms.
“There’s no pulse!”
A woman standing next to Nel rushed forward pulling her backpack off. She dumped it on the ground just as Marcus laid the young woman next to it. John noted the person he was holding was wearing the same black uniform with the Darkshield logo.
The woman rifled through her bag a moment before removing a small cone shaped device. She adjusted the woman’s head so it was tilted back slightly and placed the cone shaped device over the woman’s mouth where it started buzzing softly. When it beeped she took it off her mouth and placed it on her chest. The thing buzzed again and started vibrating violently.
After a few seconds of doing this the device started beeping and stopped vibrating. The woman studied the device for a second when a small green light flashed.
The entire team sighed and the woman removed the device from the woman’s chest. She then checked her pulse with her fingers.
“Faint, but it’s growing stronger.”
Marcus looked up at the team.
“Any other sightings?”
“No sir,” said a wiry man still standing next to Nel, “that was the only one.”
“I still don’t want to chance it. Can we move her?”
The woman nodded packing the device into her bag.
“Let’s get her to my tent.”
Marcus nodded and swiftly picked the woman back up again. Cradling her in his arms he started jogging back to base camp with the woman right on his heels.
“This…yours?”
John looked over to see Dimitri holding a pistol out.
“Technically yours.”
“Who the hell are you,” asked the wiry man.
“The man who took the creature down,” said Dimitri with a slight Russian accent as he walked over to hand the gun to John.
John took it hesitantly, noting the layer of gore on the man’s hands.
“Thank you whoever you are.”
John nodded to Dimitri as he held the gun awkwardly.
“I’ll explain who he is in a moment,” said Nel thoughtfully, “but right now we need to secure base camp and make sure Sasha is alright.”
Without waiting for a response she shouldered her rifle and started trotting after Marcus and the doctor who were both a surprising distance away.
The wiry man gave him a suspicious look before following after. John looked over to see Dimitri looking at him curiously.
“Tired?”
“Just a little bit,” John admitted.
“I’ll stick with you and we’ll go slower, my legs could use a bit of rest.”
#
John expected to be peppered with questions, but Dimitri seemed content to jog along at what he probably considered a leisurely pace. For John it was an intense workout and despite his best efforts he began panting and started slowing down.
“I’m sorry,” said John between breaths, “I know I’m not in the greatest shape, but this is ridiculous.”
“Not your fault,” said the man slowing down to match his pace, “the gravity here is a bit higher than on Earth. Your body is not used to the added weight it’s experiencing.”
“And yours is?”
“We trained for several weeks with weighted gear in preparation for this trip so yes.”
John looked around as he slowed to a powerwalk.
“So what is this place?”
“Nothing.”
“As in I’m not allowed to know or there really isn’t anything here?”
Dimitri smiled.
“You’re probably not allowed to know.”
John was about to reply when he continued.
“I meant nothing in that it’s literally nothing. The planet is a bit larger than Earth, but most of it is the purple badlands you see. Our drones and probes scouted for miles and found nothing but rocks and the occasional geyser.”
“Several miles doesn’t mean the whole planet is like this.”
Dimitri nodded in agreement.
“Of course not, but that is a task for someone else. Our job is to secure the base camp, evaluate the risk, and report back.”
“I take it that…thing didn’t help matters.”
“We call it Dog-Spider.”
“Dog-Spider?”
“Not a clever name I know, but we’re not hired to come up with clever names.”
“Works for me.”
“It was the first one we’ve seen in the weeks we’ve been here and I expect it acts alone. Though I am concerned that if a predator is that large there must be other threats equally as large.”
John searched their surroundings a little more warily.
“Although it could need such a large gait to cross the large distances on this planet, like I said there’s not a lot here.”
“So, what exactly is it you guys do? And I thought this was supposed to be a dimension?”
“It is a dimension.”
“But you said planet?”
He nodded in understanding.
“Nel believes that early Darkshield scientists traveling through the first wormholes mistakenly labeled everything they found as dimensions. Nel believes some of the places they encountered were in fact planets. From my understanding a dimension is a place where reality does not function as it should and exist in their own plane of existence, and planets are literal planets in our galaxy that may or may not function similar to Earth.”
“Uh huh.”
“Basically no one knows for sure and each person calls it planet or dimensions based on personal preference. I like planets, Nel likes to call them dimensions because she thinks it’s ironic.”
“I can’t imagine the Shelf being a planet somewhere in our galaxy, so that must be a dimension.”
Dimitri raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve been to Shelf?”
“Briefly.”
“With a team?”
“By accident, alone…mostly alone.”
Dimitri nodded to himself. Once again John waited for him to ask more questions, but he seemed content with the answer John gave.
“Dimitri can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What’s going to happen to me?”
Dimitri turned to him.
“What do you mean?”
“Based on the reaction of members of your team I feel like little more than pond scum and Marcus gave me the impression I could be killed or…life contracted…because of what I’ve seen.”
“How did you end up at Darkshield?”
“I’m not sure. One minute I was dying and the next I woke up there.”
“How did you die?”
John hesitated.
“Lethal injection.”
He waited for a strong reaction, but Dimitri merely nodded.
“I wouldn’t tell this to anyone else if you can.”
“Why not?”
“Darkshield performs many kinds of testing. Testing what Anomalies do, what happens if a person comes into contact with one, if a planet is viable for human life, that kind of thing. They use volunteers as much as they’re able, but at the end of the day they need to use people whether the person is willing or not.”
He paused and John would have given anything to know what he was thinking at that moment.
“It’s considered the lesser of evils if a person sentenced to death is forced to do these things. But even so they are still people, living beings with feelings. To make it easier for Darkshield to do this kind of testing the test subjects are seen as less than human.”
“Sounds wrong to me.”
“Like I said, lesser of evils.”
“How do you figure?”
“Anomalies come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of abilities. Some are harmless while others can destroy entire populations. Sacrificing one life to know the danger of an Anomaly or to keep it controlled is an evil but small price to pay to prevent greater evil happening to everyone else.”
John chewed on that for a moment. Stepping outside of himself he could see the logic. The company needed people to do testing and it only made sense to pick the worst of humanity, those sentenced to death for the evils they committed. It wasn’t morally right, but it was better than any other alternative he could think of.
But being someone who may or may not be guilty muddied the waters a bit.
“So, my advice is to say you woke up at facility with no memory from before. It is more common than you think at Darkshield.”
“That helps with anyone else, but what do you think the rest of your team will do with me?”
Dimitri stared ahead in silence for a moment.
“Only one way to find out.”
Without another word the man jogged ahead of him. John was about to protest when he saw that basecamp wasn’t too far away. The man disappeared into a tent and once again John was tempted to flee.
Looking behind him he could see the small outline of the remains of the creature against a purple horizon and shook his head with a small laugh.
“You have better odds with these people.”
#
John hesitated a moment outside the tent Dimitri disappeared in. It was no secret he wasn’t in as good of shape as everyone else but he wanted some semblance of dignity walking in. At least as much as he was capable of while wearing a pair of sweats that were too tight, a hospital gown as a shirt, and generally stained in grime from three different dimensions. Then there was the smell.
When his breathing was relatively normal he pushed back the tent flap and stepped inside. The team was standing idly as the woman he figured was the team medic was attending to Sasha. Dimitri gave him a small nod, Nel glanced in his direction, and the wiry man stared at him intently.
“I think she’ll be just fine,” said the lithe woman as she stepped back from Sasha who was sleeping on what looked to be a collapsible cot, “she just needs some rest.”
“Are there any foreign pathogens present in her blood stream,” asked Nel.
“None that I can find, but I’ll run another battery of tests once she wakes up.”
“Thanks Cybil,” said Marcus placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Then let’s get to the elephant in the room,” said the wiry man, still staring at John.
Everyone in the tent turned to John.
“I think elephant is a little harsh,” said John in an attempt to lighten the mood.
It didn’t work.
“Nel says he came from Darkshield,” said Marcus slowly, “by way of the Shelf.”
“I don’t buy it,” said the hostile man, “he looks like he wandered away from a test.”
“He says Darkshield has suffered multiple massive containment breaches.”
“Again, I still don’t buy it.”
“I’m inclined to believe him,” said Nel matter of factly.
“Because he’s cute,” asked the man with a scoff.
“Because I confirmed the intel Barney.”
Barney turned to her with a smirk.
“You witnessed the containment breach with your own eyes?”
“I confirmed it with an employee on base.”
“Who?”
“Alright knock it off,” said Marcus with a growl, “Nel says she confirmed it.”
“I’m just saying we shouldn’t be taking intel from a test subject. Even if it is confirmed there’s no telling if he misrepresented the information, exaggerated it, or left out any key details.”
Though he hated the man John had to agree he had a point.
“His information was rather limited,” murmured Nel, “but if even half of what he said is true we’re looking at the facility being completely overwhelmed.”
“Bull,” said Barney flatly.
“Nevertheless,” said Marcus pointedly, “we’re going to do a quick recon with Gray Matter to double check.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“It’s a quick trip there and back Barney. If they suspect something’s up we’ll gather more information and decide what to do.”
“And if it isn’t true?”
“Then we feed the man to the next Dog-Spider we find.”
John couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not and was disturbed that Barney seemed satisfied with the answer.
“On the off chance Gray Matter doesn’t have any intel about what’s going on I’d like a plan b,” said John, desperately hiding the nervousness in his voice.
“They’ll know,” said Nell assuredly.
“Then why haven’t they informed you all?”
“Gray Matter,” said Marcus before Nel could respond, “is quarantined to a specific planet and isn’t allowed to travel outside or communicate with others.”
“But you’re allowed to break quarantine?”
Everyone in the tent had some kind of reaction that told John they didn’t.
“We’ll visit the Gray Matter team to confirm what you’ve said.”
“Let’s say he’s telling the truth,” said Barney slowly, “what do we do with him? He’s a test subject.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” replied Marcus.
“I’d like a more positive answer than that.”
Marcus glowered at John.
“Company policy states you’re a liability for having been to Darkshield and left the planet, us keeping you alive is about as positive as it gets right now.”
John met the man’s fierce gaze as best as he could.
“For now we’ll talk to Gray Matter and if what you say is true then I’ll show you some leeway.”
“Marcus-.”
Marcus held up a hand to silence Barney.
“But if you’re lying.”
John waited for him to finish his thought, but he never did. Instead the man seemed on the brink of opening his mouth to continue speaking but was frozen. Bewildered, John looked around to see that every member of the team was similarly standing still.
“Hello?”
No one responded so he waved a hand trying to get someone’s attention.
“Ok, what’s going on here?”
Still receiving no response he walked over and tapped Nell on the shoulder.
“You guys are freaking me out, what’s going on?”
There was suddenly a voice outside the tent some distance away.
“All clear sir.”
John rushed to the tent entrance, gripping the pistol he used on the Dog-Spider.
“All six should be in stasis for approximately two minutes.”
Looking outside he was alarmed to see three men in tactical gear slowly approaching the tent. One of them was speaking into a radio on his shoulder.
“Confirmed sir, we’ll eradicate the team, collect any intel, and gather any supplies or tech we find for extraction.”
The man must’ve received a response of some kind because he nodded and signaled to the other two men who started moving quickly towards the tent, rifles raised.
Unsure what else to do John raised the pistol and fired a shot in their direction.
“Hostile, scatter!”
The three men broke away from each other and dove behind rocks and other debris. One of the men popped up over the rocks and fired a burst in his direction. John ducked back into the tent as a hail of bullets shredded the entrance.
“Sir we have a situation,” shouted the man with the radio between bursts, “we have a hostile not under stasis.”
John backed towards the team and nearly jumped out of his skin when he bumped into the unyielding body of the doctor. She was in the act of looking down at Sasha whose head was tilting to one side as if she was tossing in her sleep.
Gripping Cybil tightly around the waist John tried to move her, but found it was like moving a massive statue and she wouldn’t budge.
Swearing under his breath he raced back to the entrance of the tent and fired another shot in the direction of the attackers. They responded with another hail of bullets that was much closer to striking him this time.
Vowing not to do that again he continued firing in their general direction through the tent as he backed closer to the frozen team. Looking around he tried to find something for cover and saw a large metal footlocker. Quickly moving to it he was surprised to find it was relatively light and he turned it on its end positioning it in front of Cybil who was closest to the entrance.
There was a pause in the gunfire that was almost more unsettling than the stream of bullets that had been tearing through the front of the tent. Listening intently from behind the footlocker he heard a crunch of gravel off to his left and he pointed the pistol in that general direction and fired through the tent.
He was met with a loud curse and gunfire poured through the tent from that direction. This put Marcus at risk so John rushed over and upended a footlocker near him. It only reached his shoulder so John grabbed a nearby gun case and slammed it on top, hoping it would be enough to protect him from a stray bullet.
There was silence again and John was afraid to move, worried he would reveal his position. He wondered why the attackers didn’t just strafe the tent with bullets and muttered a silent prayer that they wouldn’t get the idea.
“Drop it.”
John’s eyes went wide at the voice behind him. Raising his hands, he turned to see one of the men standing at the tattered remains of the entrance. He was dressed in gear that was a similar shade of purple as the rocks outside. As he stepped into the tent they shifted until they matched the black color of the tent walls.
“I said drop it.”
Gritting his teeth John dropped the gun to the ground and kept his hands up.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Does it matter?”
The man narrowed his gaze as he stalked closer and he raised the barrel of his rifle so it hovered a few inches from John’s face.
“I said who are you?”
“That’s an entirely different story.”
The man whirled towards Marcus as he spoke and John seized the opportunity to tackle him. The gun went off and John heard the others react with shouts and gasps. The man John tackled kicked him to one side and aimed his gun at him.
There was a loud crack and the man fell back with a cry as a hole appeared in his uniform. John averted his eyes to see Dimitri approaching with a raised rifle.
“What the hell,” asked Cybil as she stepped out from behind the footlocker.
“There’s two more outside,” hissed John.
The entire group dropped to a crouch and in seconds everyone except Sasha who was still unconscious was armed with something. Dimitri crept towards the tattered tent and chanced a glance outside. Something he saw caused him to raise up and run out the door.
“Dimitri,” cried Marcus before cursing and chasing after him.
Barney was right on his heels and John took the time to collect his gun and back up towards Nel and the doctor who were positioned around Sasha.
“What the hell John,” hissed Nel as her eyes darted around.
“Don’t look at me,” he muttered back, “just because I was awake doesn’t mean I know what the hell’s going on.”
There was the sound of footfalls and John aimed his pistol at the entrance. Marcus ducked in and shook his head.
“They’re gone, they fled through a rift.”
He knelt down next to the man Dimitri had shot.
“He’s still breathing.”
Cybil rushed forward as Marcus kicked the gun away from the man and checked his body for other weapons.
“The injury is superficial, his body armor stopped most of it.”
Marcus reached for something on his belt and pulled out a pair of cuffs that weren’t attached to each other. John frowned until the he slapped them on the man’s wrists and activated them. They turned red and quickly jumped together like they were magnetized, which John realized they probably were.
“Alright until he wakes up and we can ask some questions,” said Marcus standing and looking at John, “mind telling us what the hell happened?”
John shook his head as he pushed one of the upended footlockers over and promptly sat on it. He noticed the hand holding the gun was shaking so he set it down next to him and Marcus quickly grabbed it.
“That’s a damn good question.”
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 23, 2020.
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