February 15th, 2013 by Theresa

“Didn’t used to be a war, you know.”

Cherie rolled her eyes at the MP who walked her to the cells. The lower levels of the army base were cold and damp. She bore down on a shiver refusing to show weakness.

“Not so long ago,” he continued, “This base had kids camps. Shoulda been there. Laughter echoed these walls and gum was under every classroom desk.”

Cherie twisted her wrists against the cuffs in vain. Dejected, she feigned a yawn and sniffed. as they walked away from the elevator and took the stairs down.

“See back then? Knew a real officer by how they worked with kids – especially the screw ups.”

Cherie’s nervousness rose with each degree the temperature dropped. Down and down they went. Just from memory, she knew they were well past the holding cells. Only things in the base’s basement were the furnace and the morgue. Handy places to dispose of bodies.

“Yep, had to know how to handle the difficult ones,” the MP went on. “Had to know when to punish them right or slap them on the wrist.” Finally they stopped. The MP undid the Cherie’s cuffs and turned her around.

“Down this hall are the tunnels. Stay left. It’s the way out. Don’t get caught next time. You need gas? You get it from my car. I got an extra tank.”

Cherie stared at the MP as he walked back up the stairs. A heartbeat later, she ran for her freedom.

As appeared on Thursday Threads with Siobhan Muir

February 8th, 2013 by Theresa

Steel robot bodies fell in cluttered heaps as the electromagnetic pulse rolled through the factory.

“BlackFox to base. Target hit.”  Even after twenty missions since the machines took over I still had the willies. The robots were smart. My paranoia kept me alive.

“Base to BlackFox. Green light to recon. Stay safe and don’t get dead.”

I picked my way through the scrap heaps – metal skeletons with a CPU and a solid state drive for a brain. Others looked human – too human. I stepped over bodies of perfect skin, luxurious hair and awesome abs.  I made damn sure I didn’t trip over racks of bony metal fingers and hip bones.  Pushing down my nausea, I got back to work. A soft cry to my left stopped me in my tracks.

I scrambled to the sound, a closet marked “DECOMMISSION.” She was naked and shivering.  Without thinking I reached for my mini med kit and got the foil blanket around her. She never saw my knife coming.

In a flash I sliced her arm. She yelped and pulled back in horror. “I just wanted to be sure,” I said. “The new models are harder to find.”  My gut twisted as she held out her shaking arm. Blood poured from the wound and servos showed beneath the skin. She was one of them – one of the new ones.

“Don’t kill me,” she begged. “I can help you defeat them all.”

For the first time in years, I got a good feeling.

As appeared on Thursday Threads with Siobhan Muir

January 11th, 2013 by Theresa

“The first time I met her was in the woods.” Jeb checked the sight on his rifle. Once satisfied, he loaded it carefully.

“Yeah? What she promise you?” Sully watched his brother warily. The woman in the woods had a reputation for making promises and delivering – for a price. Jeb smiled coldly. Sully manoeuvred his wheelchair from behind his desk to face his brother at the gun safe. “Jeb? What the hell man? What she promise you?”

“Nothing I wanted. Nothing she could give me.”

Sully swore. “That ain’t an answer, man. You know damn well she ain’t no witch or shaman. She’s a demon!” He wheeled his chair behind Jeb to block his way. “What did you give your soul for? For me to walk again? For Mom and Dad to come back from the grave?  What?”

Jeb just smiled coldly again. He knelt down to look his brother in the eye. “She offered to bring back Lisa.”

Sully sat stunned. Lisa was beyond gone. No one could bring her back. Jeb’s wife had sold her soul long ago to another demon in an effort to save her husband from the ravages of cancer.

“I asked to think about it.” Jeb stood and dug in his pocket pulling out a pouch. “Talked to a few witches, holy people and shamans. Gonna take care of this problem once and for all. Sealing the portal tonight.”

“And the demon?” Sully watched his brother stand. Jeb just smiled again.

“I’m going hunting.”

**********************

As appeared on Thursday Threads with Siobahn Muir 

November 27th, 2012 by Theresa

The squad of armed soldiers ghosted into the lab.  Dr. Zhung followed the team after they cleared the room.  She ran to the last functioning computer terminal. There had to be something here to tell them why the world went crazy overnight.

“Here!” She hissed to the team leader.  “I’ve got the last recording!” Quickly she played the video. While it started she downloaded the contents of every drive still connected to the terminal to her laptop. Eerily, the image of her late husband appeared on the screen. His voice chilled her to the bone.

“Project Goodnight has been taken over by Dr. Aubin.  I am fully against his involvement in this. He says he’s doing the right thing by weaponizing  my dream technology.  The fool.  Right now, I’m not so sure that testing it in mental hospitals and prisons across the globe was a good idea.  If you’re seeing this I’m dead. You either are my ex-wife or you know her.  I loved you Zee.  Download everything and fix this.  If none of the schematics make sense, there’s only one thing you should know. They’re dreaming Zee, awake and dreaming their worst nightmares. Wake them up.”

The video ended. Dr. Zhung felt tears fall then dashed them away.  “I’ve got it all,” she announced. “Let’s get back to base.”  None dared speak until they were in the van and safe.

“What’s the plan?” asked the squad leader softly.

“I wake the world,” she growled. “Time to rise and shine.”

Honourable Mention on Thursday Threads with Siobhan Muir