FLOOR 21: Judgement (The Tower Legacy Book 3) Read online

  My point is, we get through somehow, because Jackie always manages to get us through. Even as deep as we are, the one rule that keeps applying is that the Creep stays asleep as long as we don’t start freaking out. As choked as everything is, even with those bug Creepers, and even if our ammo is running low, Jackie keeps saying we’ll find a place to stock up on supplies. Even if she’s lying, it helps us stay calm.

  Anyway, we’re walking, and it’s been more than a week since we’ve seen the last Cultists, so I’m feeling pretty good about that. Then we get here, to this room. None of us have seen anything like it. I mean, it’s filled with monitors, all powered. Sure, the room’s got a pretty bad Creep infestation, but we beat a lot of it back with our flame guns. At least, we clear enough away to take a look at the monitors. All of them are broadcasting shots of different parts of the hall. I can tell, because I recognize places we’ve already passed through. Dodger’s super into it too. She’s the first to grab a chair and sit herself in front of the controls, before she randomly starts changing the monitors. We’ve got views all over the floor, and Dodger’s starting to freak out.

  “We could map our whole way through here this way! Do you know how easy it would be to find a place with supplies?”

  That gets Jackie’s attention. “Supplies?”

  “Yeah, Jackie. Who cares if we’ve been having trouble finding food or weapons? With this thing, we can scan the whole floor without having to go looking from room to room It looks like the entire area has cameras installed or something.”

  “I haven’t seen any.”

  “Could be tech we’ve never seen before.”

  She’s not in a mood to question it. “Okay, so, find us some supplies. Can these look into rooms?”

  Dodger takes a second as she flips more switches, and it only takes a few clicks before we’re looking at apartments and offices, all of them just swimming in Creep. Still, it’s a way for us to map the area, right? “Give me a sec and I’ll find us some places that probably have Pocket Space generators.”

  “Great,” she says as she leans against the desk. She’s scanning the monitors, and I can actually see her eyeballs rushing back and forth as she’s trying find anything that looks promising. Then she suddenly grabs Dodger’s shoulder. “Whoa, wait. This monitor,” she says, tapping at one. “Can you flip it back? Like, can it go back to the last feed?”

  “Uh, I really don’t know. I was switching these at random.”

  “Well, find which button controls this screen. There has to be a way to turn it back to the last signal.”

  “Yeah, sure.” It takes her a second of flipping at every switch she can find, but finally Dodger finds the right monitor and starts flipping through its feed. “What exactly am I looking for?”

  “You’ll know it when you see it.”

  We’re all wondering what it was Jackie saw when Dodger’s hands just stop. “Oh, crap.”

  When I take a look, I actually have to step away for a second to think about what’s in front of me. “What the hell am I looking at?”

  I don’t know what to think about it. The hallway we’re staring down . . . It’s packed with Creep. Tentacles are everywhere, eyes are lining the wall, hell, there are even small mouths snapping up from the floor. But there, at the far end, there’s a person standing there. She’s almost calf deep in saliva, and she’s got her back to us. I can’t exactly tell what she’s doing, but her hands are working at a panel on the far wall, like she’s trying to get something out of it. What I know is that she’s wearing all white, from head to toe. Her outfit’s body tight, and her hair’s tied into a tight bun above her neck. She doesn’t even seem to care about the Creep or anything happening around her. “Who the hell is that?”

  Jackie doesn’t take her eyes off the monitor. “That . . . that’s an Angel.”

  “What? Angels don’t . . .”

  Her head snaps back at me. “What? They don’t exist? Does that look like any Cultist you’ve ever seen?”

  “No, but I mean, how do you know? How do you know for sure?”

  “Because I’ve seen one before, Tommy, doing this exact same thing. Walking around the Tower, messing with the walls.” She stops for a second when she sees movement on the screen. All of us look at the monitor and watch as a wave of those bug Creepers come out of nowhere and start charging down the hall. Their mouths are snapping and the tentacles on their backs are whipping around the air as they rush at this woman. I mean, they look like they’re in an eating frenzy and ready to pounce, but she barely even pays attention until they’re practically right up on her. Then, she just turns around, raises a hand, and we watch as all of the bug Creepers disappear in waves of blue light that slide across their bodies.

  Mike covers his mouth. “The hell is going on, man . . .”

  Jackie’s moving to the door before I can get a word out. “Dodger. You stay here. I’ll be on the comm.”

  Dodger’s definitely freaking at this point. “Wait, Jackie. Where are you going?”

  “To get answers.”

  Mike looks her way. “Not alone.”

  “Stay here, Mike.”

  “Hell no. I don’t care who you are. Think you should just be out in those halls by yourself?”

  I see her hesitate there. It’s not something she does much, because when she’s made up her mind, Jackie’s stubborn as hell. I can’t tell exactly what’s going on, but she looks at Mike for a long second before she finally nods his way. “Yeah. Yeah, Mike. I could really use your help. You’re with me.” As always, she’s forgetting about me, so I step up with my rifle before she practically slaps me across the chest. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  I mean, she knows my answer. “With you, obviously.”

  “I’ve got Mike.”

  “Yeah, I get that, but those halls are congested with Creep.”

  “First, I’m pretty aware of that. Second, Mike had a point. None of us should be alone.” She nods past me, at Dodger. “Buddy system. Got it?”

  I hate that she’s right, but she usually is. “Right. Right, yeah. Pair up. Just, be careful out there. I just . . .” Now it’s my turn to worry. “Be careful. Please. That’s all.”

  Jackie heaves out and gives me this look. I can’t quite understand what’s going through her head, but she smiles at me, like she’s relieved or something. “Thank you, Tommy. Really.” Then she rushes out the door, and I’m left standing there as her and Mike disappear into the hall. It takes me a second to turn around, but Dodger’s staring me down when I do.

  “Everything alright over there?”

  “Just worried about Jackie, is all.”

  “Don’t make me jealous now,” she says with this silly grin. She’s kidding. I think.

  “Please. You know what things are like between me and her.”

  “Don’t be stupid. I know. I just . . . Look, I want her to be careful too.” She nods at the screen as she pulls out her tablet. In a second, she’s got it turned on, and Jackie’s voice is streaming through.

  “Give me directions, Dodger.”

  “I’m trying to track that Angel, Jackie. I’m seeing you on one of the monitors. I think you need to take a left at the next juncture and keep going for a bit.” I listen to the two of them as they try to exchange information. Even with the monitors, the Tower’s a maze, so it’s hard to get Jackie where she needs to go. It gets worse when this Angel starts moving, making stops every couple of minutes to dig into the wall and mess with the circuits. Dodger just keeps trying to keep Jackie on track. “I’m not sure, but I think you take another right up here and you’ll find her.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Jackie, if it’s an Angel, what are you going to do?”

  “Find out how they keep getting in and out of the Tower.”

  “Well, I’d get ready, because I think she knows you’re coming.”

  We both watch the Angel as she comes to a stop with whatever she’s doing. She’s looking down the h
all before Jackie’s even there. When Jackie turns the corner, the Angel’s already waiting for her, and I’m not sure what Jackie’s planning, because she just . . . runs. She’s charging this woman that’s dressed all in white. For a second, the Angel raises her hand, and I swear, all I’m thinking is that Jackie’s going to vanish into thin air like those Creepers did. But Jackie and Mike are just inches away from her when she’s the one that vanishes, just evaporates into a blue light before appearing on the opposite side of the hall.

  Dodger practically screams, “Jackie! Behind you!” And before we know it, Jackie’s turning and charging again. This time, the Angel gives them this smile, then starts bolting away. We’re tracking her from camera to camera as she’s jumping over Creep tentacles and piles of concrete thrown across the ground. At one point, there’s a huge gap in the floor that she dodges by turning and running along the wall. Jackie and Mike catch up, but there’s no way for them to get across. The gap’s so wide that it’s impossible to jump over. So, Jackie just pulls her gun up and starts screaming at the Angel to stop.

  It’s right about then that the cameras start to shake. It’s hard to tell what’s going on at first, until Dodger jams a finger at one screen. “Jackie, you’ve got Cultists behind you.”

  “What?”

  Jackie’s face shoots back down the hall she just came through and gets a look at what we’re seeing. It’s a wall of Cultists, all charging right for her. She looks back at the Angel, who looks away for a second, and we all see the same thing all at once. There’s a tidal wave of Creep rushing from the opposite direction, and it hits me that Jackie’s going to be stuck between Cultists on one side and Creep on the other. The Angel gives her a smile again, then she just shrugs before a wave of blue light rises up from her toes to her head. She’s gone a second later, leaving Jackie standing there, shouting.

  “Mike! Find cover!”

  “On it!” he shouts as he dives behind a pile of debris. Jackie’s about to join him when her shoulder jerks back. She screams as she grabs at her arm, and I can see blood soaking her glove. It should have been a bullet. She ignores it somehow as she hits the floor with him, the two of them looking over the top of a concrete barrier and firing off into the crowd. I watch as these Cultists hit the ground while Jackie and Mike pour bullets from behind cover, but what’s got my attention is the wave of Creep still sliding toward them. It’s like waves of tentacles and tissue just blasting down the floor, covering the walls and growing along the roof. Then, in the center of it, I see something starting to form. It’s like he’s riding along in a wave of the Creep, and I can’t see his face, but I recognize the hoodie and I know the voice. It practically rips through the speakers in our room.

  “JACKIE!” he screams as the Creep pours into the gap in the floor. At first, it looks like he’s just going to get dropped into the darkness, but tentacles wrap around Marshall and carry him, lifting him over to the other side. Jackie notices and spins around, and then all the shooting comes to a stop. For a second, everything’s quiet as they’re staring each other down. He just stands there, but I can see Creep dripping down his arms and the tendrils wrapping down his legs. “We have unfinished business, and you’re out of places to run.”

  “David Marshall,” she says. “What the hell did you do to yourself?”

  “I had to finish the experiment. You took away my subject, after all.”

  “You’re a monster.”

  “I am evolution!” he screams as he whips at her, and a tendril looks like it comes out of nowhere and just tosses her through the air. Mike screams for her as he runs from out of cover, but he’s only halfway to her when I hear the sound of a bullet. Then he just goes tumbling to the ground, and the next thing I know, I’m watching with my eyes just inches from the screen. Jackie tries to get to her feet, but when she does, David Marshall comes down on her with a fist that just bats her down onto the floor. I see her face get buried in Creep, and then the Cultists are rushing down the hall. While they’re closing the distance, Marshall grabs Jackie by the collar. Those yellow eyes of his are burning as a tendril grows out of his sleeve, wrapping around her throat before he lifts her into the air. Through the speaker, I can barely hear her, but she’s choking as the tendril wraps tighter and tighter around her neck. Marshall just smiles. “I thought this would more difficult.”

  I’m so busy watching David and the Cultists, I barely catch sight of Mike lifting himself off the ground. He’s hardly moving, but he gets his head up high enough to see what’s going on, and suddenly his body’s shaking. I watch his fingers bury into the rubble as he tries to lift himself up, but he doesn’t look like he’s got the strength to do it. Jackie sees him, and she starts to reach out, like she’s calling for him. David Marshall sees it too, and he turns with this cold smile. “Still awake, are you?”

  Mike’s barely got himself a few inches off the ground, but he’s mumbling. “Jackie . . .”

  “Oh. Did you want the girl? Perhaps if you beg.”

  “Jackie . . .”

  “Repeating yourself? She’ll be dead in a moment, my boy. Then we shall see what use you have left to me.”

  Mike starts sucking wind, and I watch as his arms tense up. With one shove, he throws himself up off the ground. For a second, I could swear some sort of blue energy sparks out of his palms, but I barely notice it before he yanks his head back and looks at the ceiling. Then, his fingers are digging into his temples as he screams, “JACKIE!”

  It’s like, when says it, the whole Tower responds. Outside the room, I hear something crashing, and even the floor underneath me feels like it’s shaking apart. What’s happening on screen is worse. Every monitor shows the hallway exploding apart as tendrils rip out of the walls and ground. The crowd of Cultists are snatched up and sucked into darkness, or punched right through the walls as massive tentacles just pound through the area. It only takes seconds before the entire area’s falling apart, with the roof coming down around everyone. I don’t even know how the camera stays alive, but it does, and I watch as David Marshall grabs Mike by the throat and launches him into the wall. Mike just goes out cold, and for the first time, I see the blood leaking out of his left side.

  That’s when Jackie’s hand whips up and drives this syringe into David Marshall’s arm. He screams as he lets her go, and I see the tendril in his arm whipping around like crazy until it snaps and goes flying into the ground. It must hurt because Marshall’s holding onto his wrist like it’s broken, and he’s practically snarling at Jackie. “What have you done to me?”

  “Just a little present from dad,” she shoots back as she slides her bat into her hand. She swings it and takes him across the face, and David goes tumbling back. He manages to catch his balance, then throws an arm out, shooting a tendril that whips Jackie and tosses her in circles along the ground. She goes spinning along the floor before tumbling back onto her feet, then goes charging right back at him. He whips at her again, but this time she slides to the side before jumping at him. I watch his arm rocket out and catch her bat in mid swing, but she raises her foot and it just comes cracking right into his jaw. David drops the bat as he goes falling backward, but Jackie just keeps pouring it on, beating him across the face with her fists. He dodges a few before swinging back, a pound of muscle growing over his hand before he slams her along the chin. That sends her falling onto her back, and David’s pouncing on her in a second. As he’s coming down, her legs wrap around him, and her arms bring him in tight. She basically absorbs his momentum and holds on for her life while her hand flips to her side. I only see the orange light from her flame knife for a second before it gets buried to the hilt in David Marshall’s ribs. He screams as she tears it upward, but it’s jammed in there good, like it’s right in the bone.

  He lifts up and falls back, his legs shaking underneath him. “What’s . . . what’s happening? Why am I not regenerating?”

  “That syringe I stuck in you,” she growls as she rips the knife out of him. “It’s full
of the same stuff I jammed in Creepy Sally. The same chemicals my dad made. It stops the cellular reproduction of Creep cells. I don’t care how smart you think you are, Marshall. There’s always someone smarter.”

  “No, no, no,” he’s moaning as he holds onto his side. His body’s literally convulsing, and his legs are so weak that he almost takes a knee a couple of times. “This was supposed to be my triumph. My time. My revenge!”

  “We don’t always get what we want.” She’s holding her arm, and I can see the blood soaking her uniform by now. What bothers me is she’s hesitating when she should be finishing him. “Why, David? Why did you make me do this? Why did you have to keep coming at us?”

  “Are you so naive? We all do what we must to keep going. It’s basic biological impetus, Jackie. We all must find our reasons to survive. To fight.” He stops and looks at the ground, then coughs. When he does, I see blood hit the floor, but David’s not done yet. He wipes at his mouth as he leans up to the ceiling and starts laughing. I don’t know what’s going on, and it’s obvious Jackie doesn’t either.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “I know more about the Creep than you give me credit for, Jackie Coleman. Your father wasn’t the only resident genius.”

  “I know what you studied.”

  “You know what I studied . . . while I was a researcher for Authority. You don’t know what I accomplished during my time down here.”

  “I know you kept experimenting on people. I know you wanted to use Mike to make your ultimate combination of human and Creep.”

  He nods, but he almost looks like he’s delirious, like the guy’s been drinking too long and barely knows where he is. “Necessity breeds evolution. I realized if I couldn’t harness psychic power to control the Creep, then I could still create a basic bond I could control. The devices we use to keep the Creep at bay . . .”

  “The one you use to control the Creepers.”