The creature watched the two small things pull themselves from the wreckage of the metal bird. It didn’t hate them, but knew it would soon taste their blood. And killing them would be easy. The small things were so fragile and afraid. They would scream and run, and fire their weapons, but the creature felt no fear. They could not harm it, though a part of it longed for death.
The beast stretched out a clawed hand and scratched its razor-sharp talons against its concrete perch. An image from the past entered its mind from another life. Something called a gargoyle. They hung menacingly on the sides of buildings. But it wasn’t a gargoyle, at least it didn’t think so. It wasn’t actually sure what it was.
The small device attached to its ear beeped to life and the master’s voice filled its mind. “Huangdi, I want you to kill the two soldiers, but I want you to do so quietly and slowly. Play with them a bit. Give us a show.”
The creature looked to the two fragile things. When the master commanded, it had to answer. That was what it had been programmed to do. It thought of the screams of the other small things, and some strange feeling overwhelmed it. Its mind fought to put a name to the emotion. Regret? Shame? It knew the words but couldn’t associate a meaning.
It didn’t think that it enjoyed the killing, but its mind was so clouded and confused that it couldn’t tell one way or the other. The only thing that brought clarity, certainty and understanding was the objective. It was the only graspable thread, the only connection to the world it had lost.
The objective brought peace.
And right now, the objective was to kill the two small things.
3.
Knight sensed that they were being watched. That animal part of his brain that had saved him so many times in the past screamed that they were not alone. He learned to trust his instincts long ago, but his options were limited.
Mueller was a dead weight against his shoulder, and his lungs burned for air from carrying the man down the ten flights of stairs necessary to reach street level. He dropped the wounded soldier onto the curb and glanced around the abandoned streets.
The buildings were beautiful and clean—shining pillars of glass, concrete and steel that would have been at home in any major city within the U.S.. The only difference being that these buildings were empty, while scores of men, women and children inhabited their U.S. counterparts. In fact, Knight was sure that this was the cleanest street he had ever seen, much cleaner than even the most environmentally conscious city back in the states.
Empty storefronts and lobbies decorated with red and white realtor signs coupled with the lack of cars and people gave rise to memories of the best visions of the apocalypse that Hollywood had churned out. But in most of those films, the buildings and streets were in decay and falling in on themselves. The cleanliness and beauty of the scene actually made it feel more disturbing, as if all the people in the world had simply vanished.
Knight turned back to Mueller and said, “Where’s the rendezvous point?”
Mueller coughed into his hand. He was tall with sandy blonde hair and a surfer’s tan, but his voice sounded small and frail. “Judging from our last position before we went down, we’re a little over three clicks from the staging area. We were supposed to land in the parking lot outside of an empty warehouse in the industrial district. I don’t know what the hell hit us.”
Knight’s eyes continued to scan the buildings as he replied. “Most people don’t get to feel an electromagnetic pulse. They’re most commonly associated as an after effect of a nuclear detonation. But the eggheads have also been developing directed EMP weaponry for years. Which means that whoever hit us is well-equipped.”
He squatted down to eye level with Mueller and fixed him with an intense gaze. “If you know anything about this mission, you need to tell me right now.”
Mueller shrugged. “Sorry, the brass never tells me anything. They just say where and when to fly, and that’s what I do. I don’t ask questions, and I figure that if I need to know, then somebody’ll fill me in.”
“Well, I need to know. You’re sure that you didn’t hear anything?”