Chapter 16: Rat King

Gin sat perfectly still as he kept his eyes on the monitor in front of him. Although there was oxygen in the bunker, it won’t last very long. The outside vents were clogged up with rodents as well. The bubble helmet provided help with the filtration and recycling of oxygen.

Zin was scanning and reading all the loose documents littering the floor. Several were aged to the point of being illegible. Finally, Zin found something.

“Hey kid, there’s a CD here.”

“A what?”

“A storage device used during ancient times.”

“What is on it?”

“Oftentimes a video or audio record.”

“How do I use it?”

“We need a CD/DVD player.”

“The hell is that?”

“An old technology made obsolete long before the war.”

“…So?”

“Fine, I know how to play it.”

“I knew I can count on you.”

“Gin, my boy, what would you do without me.”

A flash of light enveloped the CD.

Zin popped open a monitor on Gin bubble helmet.

A video started playing.

A wrinkled old man adjusted the camera. He wore a ragged knitted hat and a buttoned-up polo shirt. A pair of denim jeans covered his scrawny legs. The most disgusting part was that he was wearing socks with sandals. Gin nearly vomited at the sight.

“Hello everyone,” The old man said using an ancient language. Thankfully, Zin translated along the way.

“The time has finally come. I want to record this for future generations if there are any of us humans remaining.”

The old man rubbed his chin.

The scene behind him was a burning mess. The ground was scorched black and the buildings were all obliterated into rubble. The sound of humans groaning, and the sound of alarms mixed into the background music of the apocalypse.

“Our enemies are plenty, and we are so few. Our first attempt at fighting back was successful though. We manage to…”

The video started to cut off at various places.

“The CD was scratched and damaged.”

Zin explained.

“…So, we are taking all but one,” The old man finally cut back into view, “One final guardian for those who choose to remain on Earth. We will take the rest to fight those bastards back. Perhaps we may return in glory, or we may perish in the depths of the abyss. But no matter what, we humans will die fighting tooth and nail.”

The old man snarled as he showed off his snaggle-toothed grin.

“This guardian will be separated into three parts. We will keep each part with the remaining continental organizations. If we fail, the guardian will be the last line of defense. We have left one of our strongest. Its name is…”

The video cut off again.

Gin was getting progressively more annoyed.

“…To anyone watching this in the future, forgive us if we have failed. But fight back as hard as you can. Humanity will not perish.”

The video ended as the old man sat down into the cockpit of a ship. Someone from behind the camera lifted it as it filmed the ship rose into the sky.

Millions upon millions of ships dotted the sky, all flying upwards. An armada of epic proportions flew up into space.

The camera then shuts off.

Gin was speechless. The scale of such an event was eye-opening.

“S-so many ships. Where were they going?”

“To fight the good fight.”

Zin sighed as he reviewed the rest of the papers.

“We have been lied to.”

“What?”

“Gin, we have been lied to.”

Zin said with anger.

“The world didn’t end up like this due to infighting. This war-ruined land was not caused by nuclear weapons countries launched at each other. We were fighting an enemy from above.”

Gin’s eyes opened wide.

“Above?”

“Yes, above. The details were removed, but it may be due to military classification blocking the information. All we know from the notes is that an enemy from somewhere other than Earth attacked us.”

“B-but…”

“The company lied to keep everyone in check. It has been years already and most people who knew the truth have died. While we are on earth dealing with these trivial pursuits of life, our heroes are up there in the abyss, fighting for our very survival!”

Zin became more heated as he talked. Gin just nodded and listened.

“The resistance must have known the truth. That’s why they hid the ship with Jeral. I didn’t tell you this earlier, but the ship has actually two sections. One section is a lot older and sturdier. It was made out of stuff I have never seen before. The second section was added later. They look new and were slapped on to hide a lot of the original function.”

“So, you are saying…”

“Yes, Jeral hid the part of the mech. He passed it to you now. Remember his final words? He wanted to go to space. To join the heroes who fought for humanity. To die in glory and battle. He must have named the combined ship ‘The Bolsheviks’ as a hint to the resistance on its identity.”

Gin frowned. He suddenly realized he had a landmine in his hands. If the company knew, they would not let him live.

“Zin, what should I do?”

Gin asked with desperation in his voice.

“We need to hide. Gather the parts, and maybe leave this planet. The company didn’t expand outside of Earth for a reason.”

“B-but what about everyone else?”

“Who cares! Gin, you need to be more selfish. You must remember this. How can you take care of others if you can’t even take care of yourself?”

Zin gave Gin a life lesson and a half with his nagging. Finally, Gin calmed down.

“We need to know what the situation is like up there. What are they fighting? Are they still fighting? Do they need backup?”

Zin explained.

“We have one part now. All we need is a second part and we can partially finish the mech. It can go into its first form once two parts combine. Thankfully, our part is the main head of the mech. With it, we can scan and track the location of the other two ships.”

Zin and Gin planned for their future. The boy completely forgot about his plan to corner the food delivery service with Rakia.

______

Hours later, the oxygen supply was reaching the yellow zone. Gin and Zin had stopped talking now. They kept their eyes on the screen of the monitor.

The monitor was displaying the situation up above. The vermin tide was completely drowned out Area 150. The tunnels were full of scurrying black rodents. They were nibbling on everything they could get their hands on. Not even metal was spared as the drones and equipment were torn apart.

If Sinclair had known about the outbreak, perhaps the equipment he brought down was to be disposed of.

“What a waste, they aren’t even recycling the metal.”

Zin sighed.

Suddenly, a titanic ball of fur crawled out of a gaping hole in the wall.

The rat king was a beast of a rodent. Standing tall at 13 meters from head to butt, it towered over everything in the room. A single swing of its disgusting pink tail obliterated several scaffolding and rocks.

Even the parasitic mites on its body were the size of human heads. The smaller rodent opened a pathway like Moses parting the Red Sea.

Gin suddenly saw a swarm of rodents carry a large ball covered in rats towards the king.

“Unhand me you filthy vermin!”

A voice shouted out from the ball.

It was Gordon, still alive thanks to his bubble shield.

The rat king looked down at the mustached man in hunger.

Gordon turned around only to see a pair of enormous buck teeth stab into his shield. It shattered immediately with a crisp sound. The rats on the ground sucked up the fallen shards like they were eating potato chips. Gordon put up a hell of a fight, but he was surrounded. The rat king ate him up in two spine-breaking bites.

Gin shivered at the sound. He had heard plenty of satisfying crunch sounds before, but this was on another level.

Although the vermin can digest just about anything, some stuff still was highly resistant to corrosion. The rat king spat these back out and moved along.

Gin sighed.

“How long will my oxygen supply last?”

“Conservatively, 5 hours.”

“I hope they clear the place up by that time.”

There an old saying that goes, “You can live a month without food, a day without water, and a minute without air.”

Although those are rough estimates, it still shows how vital those three things are for human survival. The bunker was not prepared for extended visits. The supplies seemed to have been all used up. Empty boxes of nutritional paste lined the storage room in the back. The pipe leading to the filtration system for water was rusted and requires maintenance. It was obvious this place had been abandoned for some time.

“Perhaps it wasn’t Sinclair that built this, but why ignore it?”

Zin pondered.

Around half an hour later, Gin saw the vermin tide was starting to rush up the hill towards Area 149.

But a wall of armed men stood strong at the entrance. Sinclair was grinning as he looked down at the ocean of vermin.

“Clear it out.”

He gave the command and the men started to march forward.

They brandished the flamethrowers in their hands. A wall of fire and chemicals pushed the rodents back. Several were engulfed in the flame and was burnt into a crisp.

Soon, the smell of roast meat filled the tunnel. The militants stomped on the corpses of the vermin as they advanced with their weapons. Sinclair was in the back, drinking an alcoholic beverage out of a martini glass. He daintily sipped the drink as the alcoholic scent cleansed his nose of the burnt smell.

The rat king soon reached the hill as well. He retaliated against the men. Several were pierced by its enormous tail. Casualties were getting high, but they remained calm and continue to burn the place.

Sinclair took out a small gun and pointed it at the rat king.

“The bigger they are, the easier it is to hit.”

The gun heated up and a blast of light penetrated the rat king’s thick fur.

“What is that?”

Gin gasped.

“Looks like something the R&D department cooked up.”

The rat king was injured but not dead. It roared in pain and anger. The wound didn’t bleed as the heat of the beam cauterized the hole.

The smell of cooked meat intensified. Sinclair smirked and fired off several more shots.

The rat king knew it could not win, it started to run away. It commanded the rodents to block Sinclair’s advances.

“After it!”

The soldiers marched forward. The carpet of dead rats made moving forward increasingly difficult as the smaller rats threw themselves at the men.

The rat king ran back to the hole it emerged from and began to burrow back down.

Sinclair reached a pile of undigested metal and smirked.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Gordon my old chum.”

With the rat king gone and the rat tide subsiding, things finally were becoming peaceful again.

“Check for survivors.”

Sinclair commanded.

Gin’s heart skipped a beat. Would they silence him or help him? He didn’t want to stick around to find out.

There was only one way in and out of the bunker. If Gin exit now, he would most likely meet face to face with the militia.

“Remain still.”

Zin whispered in Gin’s mind.

The militia scanned every corner of the mine. Finally, they reached the area where the metal hatch was located. The scanned it but then quickly left it alone after seeing a note attached to the area.

Gin was confused to see them ignore the hatch. Then he realized, it must have been a request from the higher-ups to ignore the bunker. Perhaps Sinclair was the one who gave the order.

Zin glared at Sinclair’s image on the screen. Was the shrewd man really a part of the resistance? Or was he just trying to cover up this place so he can use it for personal gain?

As the militia finished the scan, they reported to Sinclair as they got back to the hill leading upwards.

“Nothing else remains, Sir.”

“Good, let's get out of here.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Sinclair brought the men away as he glared at Area 150 one more time. A sly grin appeared on his face as he left.

“You better exceed my expectations, whoever you are.”

He whispered to himself.

The metal shutters closed behind him, locking down Area 150. Noxious fumes were pumped into the cave to ensure the rodents do not return.

“We really are trapped now.”

Gin sighed.

“Perhaps not. We might be able to access the underground river if we dig a bit.”

Zin suddenly said as he began to scan the map of the area.

“We are about 500 meters away from an underground cavern with water. Perhaps it is one of the larger reservoirs leading upwards.”

“But we are almost out of oxygen!”

“Think kid, the rats ate a lot of the metal, but they militia flushed them out before they could fully consume everything. There must be drone parts remaining. Perhaps we can make a digging drone to speed things up.”

Gin began to tax his mind trying to think of a blueprint for a digging drone.

“Ok, I got it!”

He stood up and ran towards the hatch.

“Your time is limited as soon as you open the hatch. The drone must be complete within two hours.”

Gin nodded as he prepared his heart for the daunting task.

“Ready, Go!”

Gin pressed the button as a pneumatic pump pushed open the heavy metal door.

______

Meanwhile, in Area 58. Rakia sat by the window staring at the rain.

“Where has that boy gone to?”

She sighed.

Gin seemed to vanish off the face of the map. No communication can get through. It was nearly time for their little ‘trip’ to the gambling zone.

“Forget about the kid, we have more pressing matters.”

“What happened?”

“A reaper has died, and the company is expanding its surveillance. What we planned might be discovered.”

Rakia frowned.

“How long do we have?”

“A week at most.”

“We are only missing one part to fix the damn thing; we have to finish this mission.”

“Fine, but we have to be careful. As soon as we finish repairs, we must delete the Capitalist Conquest app. It can be used to monitor us and collect personal data.”

“I know, I am just using it to get the parts I need.”

Rakia sighed. The never-ending rain of Area 58 was peaceful. The rhythmic beating of raindrops on her roof calmed her down.

“Soon, I will be able to get out of this hellhole of a planet.”

Mead nodded in agreement. It wanted to return to its rightful place. It has been trapped in this tiny AI chip for far too long.

______

A 40-year-old man wearing a white suit and pants walked down the marbled hallway of the company’s headquarters. His golden glasses were not only an accessory of wealth, but it also housed his assistant AI. As he reached the door of the meeting room, he gently knocked twice before opening the velvet-lined door.

In front of him was a long desk full of chairs for the executives to sit during the meeting. But today, it was all empty except for two.

An old and stern man sat at the very head of the table.

“Director,” The man with the golden glasses greeted, “you wanted to see me?”

“June, good, come let me introduce you to my protégé.”

A young boy was standing in attention next to the director, or rather, June assumed it was a boy. The kid was so androgynous it was hard to tell.

“This is Vodka, my next in line. I want you to bring him around and show him the ropes.”

“But sir, the reaper department may be a bit…harsh for a kid his age.”

Vodka’s eyes flashed as he suddenly vanished.

The man with the golden glasses froze as he suddenly felt the coldness of metal on his neck.

“Down Vodka, we still need June, he is a good employee.”

The director smiled.

June gulped as he found Vodka was behind him with a blade to his neck. He didn’t even see how the boy got there. He was just too fast for him.

“As you can see, Vodka here is ready. Just bring him to the reaper department as an intern.”

“Y-yes, Sir.”

Vodka glared at June before finally putting down the blade.

The two left the office, leaving the director alone in the meeting room.

The old man turned around and looked at the magnificent painting behind him.

It depicted an enormous robot obliterating giant insects with obscene violence. A long spear skewered several enemies as blood dripped from their corpses. The painting looked like it was covered in blood and gore. The viscera looked so lifelike. The painter certainly took liberties in depicting the scene with as much color as he could use. It was both gory and colorful.

Slowly, a smile appeared on the director’s face.

“Soon, I will have the ultimate weapon in my hands.”

A golden label stuck out from under the painting.

“Necrobyte, the final guardian.”