Vixen A.D. 2 | Chapter 7

Wreckage & Power

Mace activated a panel along song the door after depressing a few buttons.

The tram’s metal door slid open, a soft breeze rolling past them. Must be the difference in temperature or pressure, Mace thought.

He took the first step out of the tram and onto the system’s railing. Behind him, Cinder and Faye followed. Mace kept his carbine lifted, aimed, and trained ahead on the roaming shamblers.

There were about twelve to fourteen, he counted. That wouldn’t be too bad, but it was still a problem that they were there at all. “Faye, you watch my back. Cinder, middle. I’ll lead,” Mace finished.

The two kitsunes nodded, aiming their weapons.

With that, Mace led them into the thin group of shamblers. The first one—one of the zombies with torn skin, exposed ribcage bone and sternum tissue, burning on fire—took a few steps toward him.

He aimed, centered the sight on the thing’s head, and quickly squeezed the trigger. Immediately, the shambler’s head exploded. Smoldering embers and flaming chunks of fatty tissue and brain danced in the air.

Cinder and Faye weren’t far behind. He saw them fire off a few rounds, each taking down another shambler. While they worked on the peripheral zombies, Mace continued forward, annihilating the few standing in his way.

He felt a little bad; there were people once, people he probably knew or that were well on their way to Delta. They probably had families.

But that was the way of The Singe.

Fucking monsters, Mace cursed to himself. He killed a couple more of the creatures, then spun, eying the nearby corners and shadows tightly tucked away along cracks and crevasses along the irregular and rocky cave walls.

The leftover light of the topple tram’s wreckage was enough to aide him. He couldn’t see anything, at least not immediately. That meant he had enough time to deal with the last few shamblers roaming around.

Mace turned, directing Cinder and Faye to the small group now stumbling through the melted metal, dusty railway, and charred corpses. Quickly, the three opened fire.

Mace hastily dropped the first few without complication. They fell backward, stumbled, and twisted after each bullet landed in their face. A couple twitched along the floor. He’d missed one, the thing taking a round in its neck.

It growled and moaned mournfully, slowly dragging its decayed feet toward him. Mace repositioned, aimed, and fired off another bullet. The carbine’s muzzle flashed, lighting the shambler’s face as it collapsed and blew out the back of its skull.

It didn’t take them long to finish clearing out the last of the shamblers. As quickly as it had begun, it was over. Mulling over the wreckage was all that was left.

Mace led them further down the railway, stepping over corpses and other pieces of wreckage. He had to know why, if he could, that any of his had happened.

Behind him, Faye and Cinder closely followed.

He lowered his head, staring at the shambler corpses. Nearby, the remains—

(what was left of it)

—of the wraith glistening with gore and ambient firelight. Mace glanced over to the burning tram, watching as the smoke choked the upper few feet of the tunnel. At least, it seemed, the blaze was dying down.

Granted there were air filtration units and ventilation, it still wasn’t something Mace wanted to test. He wiped sweat away from his face.

Cinder approached from behind, Faye next to her. “What now?” Faye asked.

“Let’s survey this wreckage,” Mace said. “See if we can find any survivors and figure out what happened.”

“What after that?” Cinder asked.

“We’ll get back on the tram, head to the next maintenance route, use the maintenance trolly, and reach the downed power junction.”

“Then?”

“Dinner, fun, and movies,” Mace smiled.

The two kitsunes happily swayed their tails. “Sounds like a fun time,” Cinder said.

“Keep alert, ladies,” Mace smirked.

He led them closer to the wreckage. The fires had died down a little, but they were still hot. Mace could feel a layer of sweat between his suit and skin.

Well, there was no way in—the tram’s doors were mangled and half the interior filled with fire. The rest of it was inaccessible, given half the equipment, benches, and internal pipes had collapsed onto the flooring.

It made sense. If the thing rolled, it probably rammed along the wall at high speed while still in motion, skirted the cave’s tunnel wall, then flatlined on its side.

He couldn’t see any survivors. No, most were either on  

Mace glanced over to something else, though.

Something that made his stomach sink.

For whatever reason, the tram rolled. He understood that. But what he didn’t understand was why the thing had toppled over.

Ahead, just beneath the control cabin, was the imprint of something. He didn’t know what, but it looked like somewhere something had rammed into the tram.

Something big.

“You see anything?” Faye asked.

“Something knocked this tram over,” Mace said grimly.

Cinder shuddered. “What would do that?”

“I don’t know. Did you two find someone or anything?”

Faye shook her head. “No.”

“I couldn’t’ find any survivors,” Cinder added.

“Let’s get back to the tram,” Mace said. “I want to get this over with. At least with the defenses powered up, we won’t have to deal with this shit. Let’s go,” he finished.

Faye and Cinder followed him back onto the tram.

He pressed a few buttons on the control pad and stepped in, the two kitsunes following him into the tram. Behind him, the door slid closed.

Faye and Cinder sat back down on the faux leather benches lining the inside of the tram. There was a silence in the air for a second. Mace knew they were thinking about whatever rolled the second tram.

Faye finally broke the silence. “I’m freaked out, but I also am looking forward to dinner.”

“Me too,” Cinder added.

“Maybe we should do something else too. Something besides dinner,” Faye suggested.

“Like what?” Cinder asked.

Mace turned to them as he started the tram. He pushed on a couple levers, adjusted some switches, and dialed in the next access shaft embedded in maintenance peripheries. “Maybe something interactive,” he grinned.

Cinder and Faye blushed. “I won’t say no to that,” Faye giggled.

Cinder only smiled. He could tell she was nervous, but she wasn’t outright denying him, either. Good. It was already on the table that the two kitsunes wanted him.

And it was easier to think about that then whatever happened around the area. All he wanted, besides fixing the power of the defense systems, was getting back to Delta and spending time with both kitsunes.