1962 –1:45 A.M.
All right – that was different than anything I've run across in a while.
After walking into the commons area, Archangel frowned as he saw that Valkryie
had not stepped in with him – more like we probably stepped into differing
time zones, he thought, seeing the newspaper dated '17 October 1962'. Or
'time periods'.
Looks like a Shattered scenario – shame Richard isn't here. He could
lecture me about 'how I have to make sure that I don't do anything that'll
disrupt the natural flow of events.'
Okay – that wasn't fair. Just because he's almost always right every damn
time he opens his mouth...At least he knows where to get a damn good cheeseburger
– and the biscuits and gravy at that place-
Yeah. Since I can replicate those from now until infinity, I can get past
everything else.
He started across the room – and turned, surprised, as a slow moan of feminine
pleasure erupted from a darkened corner. Great. I'm a peeping Tom.
Turning from the two half-dressed girls making out in the corner, Archangel
drew back as his Ring's shield-HUD activated:
==Position - 1:45:49 – 28 October 1962
==Location – D-360
==ALERT! Active HST infestation zone
==Classification: Reanimate/Russo-One
==Infestation Intensity Level Status: CLASS FOUR
==ALERT COMMAND IMMEDIATELY
==ENGAGE EMERGENCY BEACON IMMEDIATELY
==HST shields deployed
==ALERT! Active reanimation agent in area
==Method of reanimation: biochemical
Oh, this just keeps getting better and better - another 'Captain
Trips' trigger event. I'd better just hurry up and get out of here before I
screw up something and have to listen to another Prime Directive speech. Poor
girls. No wonder they're enjoying themselves right now - I remember reading the
brief on this Earth.
The October Crisis on this Earth involved the planned use of chemical
agents in Cuba by the U.S. to try for a quick knockout and victory – but
someone screwed up, there was an accidental release of the gas at one of the
labs... and it got messy fast.
Still encased in an invisibility glamour, Archangel had the Ring call up a
second chart on the HUD:
==Temporal Position - 1:45:49 – 28 October 1962
==Dimensional Location – D-360
==Spatial Location – 40° 40′ 9″ N / 89° 32′ 44″ W
==Reanimate saturation level:
==Zone One (0-50 meters): 0068
==Zone Two (50-500 meters): 0358
==Zone Three (500-1000 meters): 3402
==Zone Four (1000-2500 meters): 7609
==ALERT! Multiple unknown-level HST's in Zone Four
==Scanning...
==ALERT! HST's identified
==Classification: Reanimate/ Kirkman-One
==Classification: Reanimate/ Kirkman-One
==Classification: Reanimate/ Kirkman-One
==Classification: Reanimate/ Kirkman-One
==ALERT! Reanimates have entered Zone Three
==ALERT! Reanimates have entered Zone Two
==Reanimates converging on this location
Oh, hell, he thought, looking at the four marks on DRADIS display as
they moved rapidly towards 'zero position'. Meta-Zack! There's no way
that I'll get out of here before-
The wall on the other side of the room, away from the two girls, exploded in a
flare of light and sound; both girls screamed as three 'Meta-Zack' –
super-powered zombies in various states of decomposition and very
familiar uniforms – came through the hole.
Oh, fuck! There's more of these bastards?
The fourth 'Meta-Zack' - a slender redhead whose sleeveless uniform showcased
arms that were simply bones with slender scraps of tendons flapping uselessly
in the early morning winds - followed the others inside.
Her single eye, still embellished with black makeup, looked around the room and
focused on the two screaming girls for a moment as she toyed with the ankh
necklace around her decaying neck with one skeletal hand – and with the other,
held up what could only be a trio of infant skulls.
"Ringbearers – come out to play," she warbled in a lilting voice, as she
brought the skulls clinking together in a rhythmic manner. "Ringbearers – come
out to play... Ringbearers – come out to play-aaay!"
"Scarlet, why can't we just eat the two girls and move on?" said the
blonde-haired little boy, the searing bubbles of white light flowing around his
right hand lighting up the room; Archangel saw that the flesh on the entire
left side of his body (sans head and his left hand) was gone, revealing the
organs beneath. "There aren't any Ringbearers here on this world!"
"Yeah – let's just eat them!" the blonde-haired little girl holding his hand
said, speaking through a perfect mouth that was the only part left of her face
save her blue eyes. "Let me cook one of them up – that way, it's as if we have
a choice of entrees!"
Black flame began swirling around her left hand, but the shapely young woman
with short, whitish-blonde hair, perfect except for the fact that she had no
face, looked around the room. "No – I've already seen this," she said,
shaking her head. "They get eaten later – but we get-"
The four members of the Zombie Legion had no time to make any noise as a gentle
wind seemed to sweep over them – and in an instant, they were all frozen solid
as Archangel used his Ring and air-affinity powers to lower the temperature
around each of them to hundreds of degrees below zero.
A hard telekinetic 'push' struck the Legionnaires, shattering their bodies into
filthy, melting chunks.
==Kirkman-class reanimates destroyed
==ALERT! Multiple reanimates in zone
==Reanimates converging on this location
Archangel dropped the glamour; the two young women screamed again as he turned
to face them. "I'd tell you to shut up, but it's too late for that now," he
observed, turning back as an all-too familiar moaning filled the air and three
undead, in various states of decomposition and wearing Great Prarie State U
letter sweaters, rushed into the room.
The Ring flashed, and the inert dust that was the three zombies sprayed over
Archangel's shields.
"And that's from bad to worse," he said aloud. "You two – don't you know what's
going on out there?"
"If you mean 'do we know that we're probably going to be dead soon?'- the
answer is 'yes," one of the girls – a very pretty redhead - said. "How did you
– you killed – how did you do that?"
The Ringbearer shook his head at the cultured tone of the girl's voice that
screamed 'filthy rich'. "Wasn't there an evacuation – this didn't happen right
away – why didn't you get out when you could?"
The redhead took the hand of the other girl – an equally attractive blonde –
and Archangel realized at that moment that the blonde's top was off, and the
redhead's breasts were easily visible, as her sweater was fully unbuttoned.
"They- I- my father sent a helicopter for me, but they wouldn't let Paige come
along with us," the redhead continued. "She ran off crying, and I couldn't
leave her..."
"Straighten your clothes, ladies."
The arrival of a second group of zombies distracted Archangel from the girls;
they made themselves decent as the Ringbearer made several slicing motions
through the air with his outstretched hand, slicing cleanly through zombie
bodies with tornado-strength winds focused into pencil-thin streams from his
fingertips, and dropping them all in their tracks.
"Ring – interface with Agency historical records. Facial recognition," he said,
holding his Ring hand up and letting a quick beam of blue light flow over both
women.
==Accessing Agency historical archive – D-360
==October Crisis of 1962
==Identified: Carlyle, Forbes – DECEASED – 28 October 1962
==Location: Pi Rho Omega Sorority, East Peoria, Illinois
==Identified: Turner, Paige – DECEASED – 28 October 1962
==Location: Pi Rho Omega Sorority, East Peoria, Illinois
The sound of moaning grew loud and unsettling as it began to fill the air...
"What was that?" the blonde asked, as the beam moved over her. "Are those
-those things - they're..." Her voice seemed to go up an octave.
"What are- This can't be real– who are you?"
Archangel shrugged. "I'm the person who is about to owe a big favor for
saving you - and oh, am I going to hear about it later..."
The entire area was bathed in a purplish-white light, and the two young women
both screamed as the mad rush of several zombies through the gaping hole in the
wall was halted in mid-flight. "What are you...?" the redhead echoed.
"He's a guy who read entirely too many comics and saw entirely too many vids on
heroes who save the world."
Archangel and the women turned to see a plump, dark-haired man in glasses step
through a multicolored portal of light. "The 'Lothos' effect?" the
Ringbearer groused. "Come on..."
"I like the show," the man said. "Richard asked me to let you know that he's
only allowing this because we need a field test of the new simulacrums, that he
wishes that you would avoid getting yourself in situations like this – and that
yes, we knew you would end up here."
He smiled as the Ringbearer's mouth opened, and then closed again quickly. "In
any event – you need to step over to that doorway, right now," the man said,
directing Archangel to the double doors on the other end of the sitting room.
"Lean back on the doors, will you? You'll thank me later – and ladies – if you
could step this way..."
The redhead – Forbes – looked from the Ringbearer to the plump, bespectacled
man, confusion on her face. "Who are you people?"
"They have pamphlets that'll explain everything," Archangel said, and an
uncharacteristic smile crossed his face. "Go on – its better than here. They
also have cookies."
The plump man shook his head. "Come on, ladies. You have new lives waiting for
you."
Forbes turned to Paige – the blonde – and glanced momentarily at the zombies
before turning back and holding out her hand. "Together?"
Paige took the offered hand. "Always."
They started towards the portal, and then turned back to Archangel. "Thank
you," Forbes said, looking back in his direction.
The two women disappeared through the portal, and as they did, doppelgangers of
the two women appeared on the loveseat. "Well, that's new," Archangel said, his
Ring detecting the warmth coming from the simulacrums. "Will they be okay?"
"They'll do okay." The plump man smiled. "Take it easy, Gerald."
"You too, Guy," Archangel replied. "Get out of here."
Waiting several seconds until the portal disappeared, Archangel leaned back on
the doorway as Guy instructed, and let the temporal stasis field drop-
A blinding spear of pain plunged straight through his head, along with an image
of Valkryie, and Archangel fell back through the doors just as the zombies
completed their rush into the room.
Without hesitation, they zeroed in on the two simulacrums; the vile sounds of
ripping flesh and chewing echoed out of the now-deserted sorority house.
Outside, hundreds of zombies began to converge on the area, drawn by the sounds
of battle from earlier and the scent of human flesh...
*****