Wing of a Banshee

35 years ago the world's fate was sealed. Astronomers watched the sky for meteorites and found one, one that housed a nearly extinct race of alien life. When the meteor got close to earth, blue light

Prologue

Blue lights slowly beam themselves from the night sky to the crust of Earth; strange beings emerge from the light, standing 7' 10'', with purple skin and razor sharp teeth. The banshee strikes an innocent and roars out to its people.

Armed guards rush people into bubbled cities, the only protection from the banshees. Civilians scream and run into their city, trying to live.

A wandering girl, roams about in the crowd of people, "Mommy?!" She calls out, but there is no answer. "Mommy?!" She calls again. No sight of her mother, she is going to be the last one to make it into the barrier. A banshee spits out a green liquid onto her skin, it sinks into her pores and the banshee sweeps her away with a scream.

35 years ago the world's fate was sealed. Astronomers watched the sky for meteorites and found one, one that housed a nearly extinct race of alien life. When the meteor got close to earth, blue light blasted out of it and down to the surface, sending the aliens with them.

Once the US army had received word of the alien life heading straight for Earth, the built bubbles over cities called barriers and housed used them as protection for the civilians once the aliens got to Earth. But after the aliens arrived the found a new threat to the human race; the B Virus.

The first person was infected with the B Virus the fateful day the aliens arrived, people took to calling the aliens Banshees for their ability to spit at long distances and how they roar loudly. Further research on the Banshees found that they couldn't smell or see they tracked people by hearing; they could sense a human around from a hundred miles away, and when they roared they called each other.

Life inside the barriers changed from the former life the citizens once knew, the chain of command had changed and so did housing. People lived in dorms and everyone had a specific military or research job. The men where emitted into the army at the age of 12 and worked their way up from patrolling the barrier to traveling the world and carrying out duties for the highest in command, the Authority.

The chain of command went like so; Corporal, General, Major Officer, General Guard, and, Wing of Justice. The top spots first belonged to the offspring of the former president, but as life moved on they died and new people took place, these positions were called Elder and Authority.

The Authority was usually a woman, but at some times could be a man. And the position of Elder was absolutely always taken by a man, no matter the age. Farther into life, Elders and Authorities where to marry, no matter the gender, and live a life of leading the barrier to a better life.

Tasha Wagner, first Authority of the New York barrier, she took power at the age of 17 and left shortly after for unknown reasons to live her life in the dangerous ruins of New York. Eventually she became very valuable to the New York barrier after a 19-year-old solider brings her in 20 years after she left.

Leon Ronnie, emitted into the army at the age of 12 began patrolling the hallways of the New York barrier. He quickly raced through the ranks of the chain of command, impressing the Elder. Eventually once Leon passed the rank of Major Officer at the age of 17, he caught the eye of the Elder. Elder Jacob held a ceremony and granted Leon the title of Wing of Justice, making him the youngest ever to achieve that title.

Chapter 1

            The green light sweeps across the abandoned streets of what used to be New York; the ship hovers 50 feet above. My crew of eleven workers drives the ship; everything is silent besides the beeping controls. I step up to the observation window, wearing a black and red suit of metallic armor, a tight black helmet with a tinted visor, and mechanical white-feathered wings -The traditional attire for a Wing of Justice.

            Abandoned vehicles and collapsed buildings dress the streets of New York. Today was my day on patrol, I was to search the streets of New York for any life form and eliminate it, Banshee or not.

            “What’s the status, Carter?” I turn and ask my second in command, we aren’t close; I’d just met the guy and don’t know him at all.

            He peeks at a small computer screen and looks back up at me, “No sign of life so far. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any banshees left out there.”

            I nod and turn back to the observation window. I spot a moving figure run from a car and into a building, “Carter, movement!” I alert him. He OK’s me and the ship turns down the street next to the building.

            “Where at, Captain?” Carter asks me.

            “To the right,” I answer. Carter aims the light through the broken windows of the building with an old sign that reads "Holiday Inn."

            We pass the building and move onto the next one.

            “Carter, I’m going to go look.” I say and walk down the runway to the exit of the ship. I grab a bulky assault rifle and load it with acidic cartridges.

            “Sir, are you sure it wasn’t just some trash blowing in the wind?” Carter asks me as I open the door.

            “I’m positive.” I answer and jump the 50 foot drop to the ground. As I land the loose concrete under me shatters on impact. I look around the streets, but I see nothing. I begin to run into the same building that I saw the figure run into.

            There is no furniture; the army scavenged all of it for the barriers. The room is completely black. I poke a small button on my helmet to turn on a flashlight. I saw a figure move across the beam of light and out onto the streets, Carter’s voice rings in my helmet, “All systems back online.”

            “What?” I ask quietly, running after the figure. If it was a Banshee, I have to be quiet. Banshees have huge ears and can target a person from a mile away.

            “Captain, there seems to be increased Banshee activity…you better get out of there.” He informs me.

            “I’ll be fine.” I say before I trip over a discarded piece of concrete from the building and fall to the ground just outside the building. I lose grip on my assault rifle and it skids across the ground to a halt 5 feet away from me. “Damn it.” I curse and stand up. Before I can do anything, a Banshee tackles me to the ground.

            "What, captain?" Carter asks.

            "I gotta Banshee on me." I answer through clenched teeth.

            I hold its forehead back, keeping it from biting me. Its spit turns someone into a Banshee, but my armor was too strong for it to get through. I should be afraid of the bite; its teeth can easily tear through my armor and into my flesh.

            The Banshee had hard purple skin and blackish spots all over. Its eyes glow a fierce crimson, it had a flat nose and Saber Tooth Tiger-like teeth. The Banshee crawls on all fours and had razor sharp claws.

            The Banshee growls low, signaling that it’s going to spit.

            “Go ahead, you f****r!” I yell at it. “Spit!”

            Before it can a gunshot from behind me rings through the abandoned buildings and flies into the beast’s head.

Chapter 2

            I shove the six hundred pound corpse off of me and look at the shooter. She was about 5’ 6’’; she wore silver metal armor that only remained her on her right arm, it used to be a full body suit. --The kind that explorers wear. The most of the armor had been pushed off by her growing purple skin that went from toe to nose, she could only see through her brown left eye due to the purple skin spread, and her black hair was cut short at the shoulders.

            This woman is turning into a Banshee. I thought to myself. Her teeth hadn’t grown in yet, after your skin flaked off to be replaced by the purple Banshee skin, you lost sight in both of your eyes, then you’d get a hunch in your back, after that your teeth would grow larger and sharper. The transformation was ended by your hands extending and growing large claws.

            “What are you doing out here?” She asks me with a European accent I couldn’t quite place. I tried to stand, but a sharp pain in my leg arose and I fell back down. She ran over and picked me up, throwing one of my arms over her shoulder. “Don’t you know that the Banshee saliva has turned acidic? It can burn through your armor in seconds.”

            “No,” I shook my head, confused. Who is she? She should have turned into a Banshee by now.

            “Call your men.” She commands me.

            I nod and speak, “Carter, bring the ship over.”

            “Yes, captain.” He says. The ship hovers above us. It is sleek sliver and it has four long, skinny wings sticking form it with fanlike blades the keep it above ground. On the opposite side is a giant observation window. The fanlike blades slow to a stop as it lands and the back of the ship opens up, creating a way to enter the runway. The ship isn’t big at all, only about 15 feet tall and 30 feet long.

            As we board Carter helps me walk up into the runway.

            A few other crewmembers rush the woman to a machine that scans for any sign of what the doctors and scientists refer to as the “B Virus,” but I don’t see why, it was obvious she has it.

            The woman yells at them, telling them she is fine and that she can explain, but they ignore her.

            I watch them load her into the cylinder and work at a holographic computer screen, starting the scanner up. A red line of light scans her whole body. I was confused, anyone could easily see her skin flaking off and turning purple, but hers has just stopped. I don’t see how.

            The worker’s mouths dropped, “The infection seems to have stopped.” They announced and let her out.

            “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” She says in an angered tone as the ship started to lift of and drive towards the barrier. “I found a way to stop the virus from growing.”

Chapter 3

            The orange and black bubble lies ahead, emitting a glow that illuminates the night. I smile slightly, the bubble is the only thing that saved humanity, but everyone refers to the bubbled cities as “barriers.” But I like bubble, it sounds more interesting saying that you lived in a bubble than a barrier.

            The ship pulls in on the loading dock as a door slid open and let us into a giant concrete room with supply boxes stacked to the ceiling. The workers park the ship and the back entrance falls open. As protocol the city guard enters the ship and takes the woman, who claims to be Tasha.

            I raise my hand, as if to halt them, “Let her go.” I say but they ignore me.

            “I can explain!” She yells at them as they drag her out of the ship. She kicks and screams, trying to break from their grasp.

            “Stand down!” I yell. Tasha smacks one with her armored arm, sending him fumbling to the ground, and she rips her arm out of the other’s grasp.

            Tasha punches the other in the face once she’s free and steps back, “I can explain.” She says. The guard who got punched in the face looks at her angrily while holding his cheek.

            I pick up the first guard who got smacked by Tasha's armored arm and slam him up against the ship, “I told you to let her go.” I say quietly, pointing to his face.

            “Sorry, WOJ, but we got orders from Lexus.” He answers in defense. WOJ was my abbreviation since I was a Wing of Justice.

            “I don’t give a f**k what Lexus told you to do. When I say stand down I mean stand down. ” I let him go and put a hand on Tasha’s shoulder, “I need to take you to Lexus.”

            “I have the authority to pass all this up and go there.” She says.

            “What do you mean?” I ask, walking her through a steel automatic sliding door. We enter a room where people are scanned for any sign of the B Virus. I hold up my I.D card to the man on duty, my suit automatically scans for the virus, but I need proof that I am indeed a Wing of Justice.

            “Sir, I’m going to have to scan the girl.” He stops me with a hand on my chest.

            “I’m taking her to see Lexus.” I say and move past him into a long corridor of shiny steel hallways.

            “I’ve been here before,” Tasha says. “I was the Authority.”

            The Authority was the highest in the chain of command. Lexus was the Authority now, “What?” I ask, obviously alarmed. “If that’s true then why where you outside the barrier?”

“I was fired.” She answered simply.

“How?” I ask. When someone was the Authority, they were above the law, and could only be fired by doing something that endangered the lives of everyone in the barrier.

            “I wasn’t fired, necessarily… I left.” She answers. I push a button and a bulky door opens, leading into Lexus’ room. She sits wearing a white robe at a desk, she has brown hair perched up and a bun, her pale skin reflects the bright fluorescent lighting.

            “Lexus,” I say and take of my helmet. “This woman is Tasha. She was the ex-Authority. She claims to have found a way to stop the growth of the B Virus entirely.”

            “Wing Leon, how good to see you again, and Tasha.” She looks over at Tasha and her eyes get wide, she raises her fist up to press an alarm button, but I grab her wrist.

            “She had the B Virus, but it stopped growing entirely in its early stage.” I inform her.

            Lexus examined Tasha carefully, “I remember her.” She says. “Tasha Wagner: left her position as the Authority at the age of 18, twenty years ago. --Before Leon here was even born.” I release Lexus’ wrist and let her walk over to Tasha. Lexus slowly ran her fingers down Tasha’s cheek. “I never thought that I’d see you again.”

            “I don’t need your crap.” Tasha spat and slaps her hand. “I can take damn well care of myself against a few Banshees.”

            “It doesn’t seem that way now by the looks of your appearance.” Lexus says.

            “Tasha, I want you to explain how you stopped the virus from growing.” I intrude.

            “Yes, please.” Lexus backs me up and sits at the end of her desk.

            “Well,” Tasha started, “After I left I found an abandoned lab in the old United Nations Headquarters.” She tells us. “I made my home there; it was perfectly intact and had all kinds of working medical and scientific equipment.”

            “How did you get the saliva on you?” Lexus asks.

            “My armor had broken, but I went out looking for food. And a group of ten, maybe twelve, Banshees attacked me. I killed most, but one spat on my thigh. The saliva seeped through the fibers of my clothes and into my pores.”

            “We know the process.” Lexus says.

            “Well, I got back to the lab and started research on myself immediately, since the lab was designed before the Banshees came the technology was old, but useful, and they didn’t have anything to track the virus’ growth rate. I tried experiment after experiment, but nothing worked. And right before I went blind in my last eye, I found it.”

            “What about your arm?” I ask and point to the one armored. “By now the skin should have bloated and pushed any armor off.”

            “This is what stopped me from turning into a Banshee.” Tasha answers.

            “How is that possible?” Lexus asks.

            “Well, I cut off my arm a little while after it turned purple, I’d lost all use of the hand because it was extending and turning into a paw. But in doing so, I’d also injected a pain killer I had made so it wouldn’t hurt when I started to saw.”

            “So that’s just a robotic arm?” I ask.

            “Yes.” Tasha answers.

            “What did you use to make the pain killer?” Lexus asks.

            “Basically, I combined some compounds found in Hydromorphone, and Oxymorhphone.” Tasha answers.

            “What else? Surely that can’t stop the virus. Those are only pain killers.” Lexus mentions.

            “You’re right, I also added in the Cancer Vaccine.” Tasha says.

            “What compounds of the pain killers did you use?” Lexus asks.

            “It won’t matter.” Tasha claims.

            “What do you mean it won’t matter? We could save thousands, maybe even millions of people!” Lexus says and shoots up out of her seat.

            “You don’t think I know that?” Tasha says. “The Banshee’s saliva has turned acidic. It can burn through someone’s armor in a second, let alone someone’s skin. If someone get’s spat on they’ll die.”

            “Do you really think I care?” Lexus shoots back at her. Tasha says. “We can save lives here!” Lexus yells. “We can cure the world and win back what was ours!”

            “What was ours?” Tasha asks. “What was ours?” She lets out a hardy laugh and turns and opens the bulky door. “They’ve just reclaimed it.”

Chapter 4

            I follow Tasha out of the room and down the hall, “What do you mean that they’re reclaiming it?” I ask.

            “Have you ever heard of the ancient alien theory, Leon?” She asks me, but before I can answer she starts up again, “The theory states that aliens visited out planet in ancient times and helped our ancestors build and help them with technology. Well, that theory is true, all except they didn’t help us, they used us for repopulation.”

            I was freaking out by now, I’d kept my cool for too long and she’s going on about how Banshees roaming the earth in ancient times to repopulate? I didn’t know how to react.

            “How do you get that they’re reclaiming the Earth if they came here after we were here?” I ask, it surprised me that I kept calm.

            “Well, Leon,” She starts. “They moved us here.”

            “What?!” I ask. “So now you’re saying that they’re the reason we’re here?”

            “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She answers. “They moved us from some other planet to here.”

            “Why would they do that?” I ask.

            “Stop talking,” She says and enters the loading dock were we parked my ship. She’s leaving again.

            “You’re not leaving,” I say and put a hand on her shoulder. She turns and punches me in the face causing me to let go and stumble back.

            “I’ll do what I want to do.” She tells me. “You’re not my boss. And from what I remember, twenty years ago, I was your boss.” She began walking away, towards my ship.

            “I want you to join my crew!” I blurted out, not thinking. Everyone in the giant room turns to me at my sudden statement like I asked her to marry me.

            “Just so you can be my boss?” She asks rhetorically. “No.”

            I had to think quickly, Lexus was counting on me, even though she didn’t say it, I knew it. Tasha was our only way to get the cure.

            “No, it’s not that.” I say. “I’ve seen you take down two trained guards and save my life today. Not to mention your skin is the hardest surface on Earth right now.”

            Tasha let out a laugh and boarded a random ship with me following her. “So now you want me for my ability to fight and my skin?”

            “Yes.” I say. My nose was beginning to bleed from the previous punch.

            “I’ll tell you what,” She says, turning to me. “If you can beat me in a fight, I’ll join you. But if I beat you, you have to come with me to New York.”

            “What?” I ask rhetorically. “You are aware that your skin is the hardest surface on Earth, aren’t you?”

            “Of course I am,” She says. “It’s just been awhile since I fought a real man.” With that, she steps past me off of the ship and inside the city. What had I gotten myself into? I have to fight a half-Banshee woman with a robotic arm.

            I step off the ship and walk across the concrete floor towards the entrance. A member of my crew, Donna, runs up next to me.

            “What was that about, sir?” She asks.

            I take a breath and stop walking, “I’m not really sure.”

Chapter 5

            I enter the ring wearing red gym shorts. My short dirt-brown hair is already soaked with sweat; I’d sat in the bathroom figuring out how I’d do this. There is no possible way I can win.

            Tasha climbs into the ring, she wears a black tank-top and white shorts, she has her black hair in a bun tied tightly behind her head. The crowds of people surround the ring, cheering. I shift nervously on my feet as the referee grabs the hanging mic and speaks into it.

            “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to the fight of a lifetime!” He says and everyone cheers. I shift again and spit on the ring. Somehow I’d maintained to be calm while I was getting attacked by a Banshee and roaming the city with a half-Banshee woman, but now, in a ring against that half-Banshee woman who saved my life, I am freaking out.

            “In the right corner, we had Leon Ronnie!” The ref shouted. “Weighing in at two hundred pounds, Leon raced to the top of the ranks to become a Wing of Justice.” I sighed, remembering my military rank. I could do this, I had the ability. I’d fought my way through the ranks since I was 12 to get to where I am today.

            “In the left corner we have Tasha McKinney!” Everyone cheers louder for her than they did me. They don’t think I’ll win. “Weighing in at 130 pounds, Tasha found a way to stop the B Virus from growing, and now she herself is half-Banshee.”

            The bell sounds and I slowly walk in, fists up. Tasha throws the first blow which connects directly to my forearm, I counteract with a blow to the abdomen. I’d been trained for combat. I can do this.

            Tasha made a blow with her robotic arm straight to my thigh; I stumble back a bit, trying to regain my balance. She just had be the one to know that the thigh was the most sensitive muscle in the body.

            I kick her in the stomach, hurting my foot more than it hurt her stomach. I can’t do this, no matter where I’d hit her, it’d hurt me more.

            She roundhouse kicks me in the side of the head, barley missing my temple. I fall over onto the ring floor, everything is blurry and the sounds are muffled. I hear the ref count as I struggle to get up, one second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds, six seconds.

            I stand and before anyone has a chance to do anything I punch Tasha in her only working eye. The crowd gasps as she falls on her back.

            “One!” I shout with everybody in the room. “Two! Three!” Tasha tries to get up and falls back down, shooting me a deadly glare that says, ‘F**k you, Leon.’ “Four!” I shout and turn away from her, looking at the crowd of show-goers. I raise my fists in triumph as if I’ve already won, then I realize everyone stopped counting.

            I spin around, only to be greeted by a kick in the nose, forcing me to the ground. I look as Tasha as she kneels down next to me and shouts over the crowd of crazy fans, “I’ll join your crew!”

Chapter 6

            I woke with pains in my head, fists, and leg. Dona sat wearing a camouflage uniform, her blonde hair tied back in a pony tail under the flat-beak hat. The fluorescent lighting made it almost impossible to see her freckles. She slowly dabs my forehead with a wet rag. A white sheet covered my body.

            “What happened?” I ask and sit up. I can’t remember anything that happened yesterday.

            “Um, sir,” She starts and smiles a bit. “You got the s**t beat out of you.”

            “What?” I ask. “What do you mean?”

            Tasha enters the room wearing a tight grey shirt with her name tag on it and tight black pants. She tosses a stack clothes with my nametag on top on my lap. “She means I beat the f**k out of you.” She says with a smirk. “Captain.”

            I look through the clothes, a tight red shirt and black pants with black and red shoes. “Why did you give me my ceremonial clothes?” I ask, looking up at her and realizing that she wore ceremonial clothes too.

            “We have a meeting today,” She says. “We’re getting our orders for the week.” I shake my head and stand up, realizing I was naked.

            “I’ll leave you to get dressed, sir.” Donna says and leaves the room. I pick up the pants and slide them on. Tasha examines me carefully.

            “You know,” She says. “I’m your second in command.”

            I finish getting dressed and look at her. “Who made you that?” I ask.

            “Lexus, she figured if I was good enough to beat you in hand-to-hand combat that I could do the same to your men. So she assigned me to second in command and broke the news to Carter.”

            “How did he take it?” I ask her as we walk out of the room and down the hall.

            “He killed himself.” She answers simply.

            A small sadness had swelled up inside me, but I couldn’t dwell on that. I’d seen enough death and I knew how to deal with it. Silence.

            “Rope or gun?” I ask.

            “Needle.” She answers again, simply.

            I look at her strangely. She doesn’t bother to look back. “How?” I ask.

            “He had a heroin addiction.” Tasha answers. We walk into the giant dome-shaped room with bleachers perched up on the walls. There was a small circle where Lexus and the Elder, Jacob stand hand in hand. I don’t see why they called Jacob the Elder; he was only around 40 years old.

            “What’s with them?” I ask Tasha.

            “They’re getting married.” She whispers in my ear. I thought it a good for them, Lexus was a likeable person, but I wasn’t surprised about their marriage. The Elder was always to marry the Authority, no matter the gender. We take out seats at the top of the bleachers and watch as over a hundred other people file in and sit. This is the only time I can actually realize how many people live in this city, and not one of them can relax for a minute.

            After the doors close, Lexus speaks up, “As you all know the city’s barrier is weak.” She begins loudly. “But we have nothing to fear. The Banshees are not strong enough to break through.”

            Lexus turns to the Elder and nodded for him to start, “Now onto the job assignments. Team one; we want you to fly to the Miami barrier and aid them in their excessive Banshee attacks. Team two; we want you to fly across seas and get word from Brittan about their cure research. Team three; we want you to scavenge the DC ruins in hope to find some medical or scientific tools and research documents.”

            He went on thorough all of the teams until it came down to me, team fifty three. “Team fifty three, we need you to go to the wasteland and annihilate a family of Banshees for the Arizona barrier, Authority Kahn will give you more information.”

            “Dismissed!” Lexus shouted. Immediately everyone stand and file out of the room.

            “Have you ever been to Arizona?” Tasha asks me on our way out.

            “No,” I answer.

            “It’s a very nice place.” Tasha says jokingly.

            Everyone walked into the bay where we kept out ships; our crews were already suited up and waiting for us. My suit was in a machine, all I am supposed to do is step in and it put it on automatically. It was a new design, one I’m not fond of. I don’t like the fact that it has the ability to crush me in one swift motion.

            I step into the machine and pres a red button. Little arms that hold my armor move and the armor pieces to put it on me. It puts the chest plate on first and air locks it on. Then it slides the arm cuffs up my arms and locks them to the chest plate. The leg armor is cut at the front, the arms move it and close it on my legs and lock it onto my chest plate. I’m only happy that I get to put my helmet on myself. I take it off of a hook and slide it on.

            I board the ship, and watch my crew board, Tasha stands behind me. She examines her crewmates carefully, being sure to decide whether or not to like everyone.

            When all eleven people are in place I speak up, “How was your time without me, soldiers?” I ask.

            “Good, sir.” Everyone answers in unison.

            “How did it feel?” One asks, Fred.

            “What, solider?” I ask.

            “How did it feel, getting your a*s beat by a chick?” He asks again.

            I stutter to speak, fumbling for some words, but Tasha steps up in front of me, “Captain Leon is a Wing of Justice. That means he is a higher rank than you, and he’s only nineteen. That says something, solider. It says that a kid is a better fighter than you, and now he’s your boss. And considering the circumstances, I can guarantee I can probably kick your a*s even better.”

            Fred sinks back into his seat. I turn around and power up the ship, entering the coordinates for Arizona and turn on autopilot. The ship takes off through the door and flies across the morning sky. Through the observation window I watch the ruins of New York pass by.

            “How’s your first day back on the job going?” Tasha asks from beside me.

            “Better than expected.” I answer with a chuckle.
Chapter 7

            Through the observation window I see what looks like it used to be a barrier. All it was now was black lines and crashed ships.

            “What the hell...?” I ask myself, gazing upon the once beautiful city. I turned to Donna, she is working the communications center of the ship where we sent and received Morse code messages. “Donna, contact the Arizona barrier, please.” I tell her. She OK’s me and clicks away on the computer.

            “We’re not getting a signal, Captain.” She tells me.

            “S**t…” I say under my breath. The Arizona barrier is gone, and we can’t do anything about it.

            We pulled into the loading bay, everyone has already seen the city on the outside, but now our mission was to search for any survivors. We grab assault rifles and file out of the ship, with me and Tasha waiting by the exit.

            “Everyone wait for me by the door.” I tell them. They oblige and wait at the entrance.

            “What do you think happened?” Tasha asks me.

            “Elder Jacob said that they were having trouble with a family of Banshees. I guess that’s what did them in.” I answer.

            “I thought this barrier was the best protected one on Earth.” Tasha says.

            “I know.” I say and lead Tasha to the group. I stand in front of everyone with Tasha beside me. “Soldiers, we came here to help the locals. But now we have a different mission; look for survivors. This was once the best protected barrier in the world, and now it’s been reduced to a pile of rubble. We get in there, look around, get out. Simple.” I looked around the group, “Questions?”

            “Um, sir?” Fred raises his hand.

            “Yes, Corporal?” I ask.

            “What do we do if we find someone with the virus?”

            “If you find anyone contact me.” I say and take a deep breath. “We’re going to go in and split up into groups of three. Donna, you come with me and Tasha. Fred you go with Mick and Daniels. Toby and Ryan, you guys take Phoebe. The rest of you, Jeremy, Keith, Eli, and Amanda, you guys go together.”

            Everyone groups up and look to me for the word. “Move out.” I say.

            Everyone starts to file into the city; I wait beside Tasha and watch. Donna groups up with us on her way out. We go in last, walking slowly and listening closely. Once we are all split up I lead Donna and Tasha into the science lab.

            Discarded science tools lay broken on the scuffed tile floor, racks hold white lab coats on them. I turn on my helmet flashlight and look around, sparks fell from a hanging light and on some blue blood.

            “What’s that?” Tasha asks. She rubs her fingers through the blood and looked at it closely.

            “Is it Banshee?” I ask.

            “Yeah, pretty fresh, too.” Tasha answers.

            “So Banshees did this?” Donna asks from behind us.

            “Yes, but my question is how.” I say. We trek farther into the dark city and down the abandoned halls. Blood paints the walls and discarded bodies dress the floor, dismembered and bloody.

            I press a red button and a square bulky door retracts and leads us into a room that appears to be the Authority’s room. Authority Kahn lies on his desk, dead. He wears a bright blue ceremonial outfit. I brush my fingers along his cold skin and pick up a small plate-like device lying on the desk beside him. I press a red button and a hologram of him flickers above the device.

            “Log number 42. The Banshees have slain out outer troops I sent to scavenge the ruins yesterday. We’ve made great process on the weapon. The uh, prism was the only defective part left. We fixed it up and I sent a copy with my last squad to the New York barrier, but I’m not sure it made it.” The image flickers to the loud noise of gunshots and screams in the background. The hologram turns and looks around, but before it can start up again the device shuts off.

            “What was that?” Tasha asks me.

            “It was Kahn’s last moments.” I say and press a button on my armor, a flap swings open and I lay the device inside and shut the flap, Lexus will want to see it. The Arizona Barrier had been working on a weapon to paralyze the Banshee for further research on a live body, they’d sent out prototypes to all 47 barriers, but the prism on the tip of the barrel would melt, causing the laser to be less accurate. I tried it once, couldn’t hit the side of a building.

            “So he got the famous weapon working?” Tasha asks me as we move farther back into the room.

            “I guess.” I said and throw open a sliding steel door. There was a soft sobbing in the room.

            “What’s that?” Donna asks from behind me and Tasha.

            “It sounds like a kid.” I said. “Anyone there?” I ask. A Banshee tackles Donna on top of me from behind. Donna begins screaming, but I couldn’t move under the weight of the six hundred pound beast and the one hundred seventy five pound woman.

            The Banshee roars and bites down into Donnas’ armor. I can hear the Banshee’s teeth dig into her bones and flesh. Tasha shots the beast in the head and drags it off f me and Donna. The shrill voice in the room shrieked and ran out of a closet; she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a blue dress and hugs a teddy bear against her chest. I noticed the growth of purple skin on her finger tips. She was turning into a Banshee.

            Donna climbs off of me and rubs her bite wound; her armor sparks and makes weird noises. In one swift motion I fumble to stand and sweep the little girl up in my arms. She threw her arms around my neck and softly sobbed to my shoulder.

            I spoke into my microphone in my helmet, “Everyone report to the airship, now!”

            “Who’s that?” Tasha asks me.

            I lead them swiftly down the long corridor of bloodied halls and say, “She’s Kahn’s daughter, he was the only son of the president that was married when the Banshees came, so he didn’t marry the Elder. Instead Kahn’s wife became the Elder and helped with military operations. Sometime around seven years ago they were the first Authority and Elder pair to have a child.”

            “How do you know so much about this?” Tasha asks. “I was the former Authority and I didn’t know that Kahn was married.”

            Donna took over speaking for me, “We make a lot of trips here and to the California Barrier.” She was right; we had somehow gotten either our barrier or one of the two whenever we got assigned a mission.

            We rush through the half-broken door and into the loading dock; my crew awaits us by the ship.

            “Sir, Captain Leon, what’s going on?” Jeremy asks me as we climb into the ship.

            “Kahn’s daughter has the virus,” I say and hand him the girl. Everyone sits down along the side of the ship. I slap my hand on a button that closes and locks the exit. “Fred, I need you to get us back to the barrier, and Amanda, radio to the barrier that we’re going to need a sterile medical room and a stretched on arrival.” The two OK’d me and did what I told them to do I took the little girl back from Jeremy and put her in the scanner.

            She doesn’t freak out or anything, she just stands there and stares at me. I type away at the controls and pull a lever to initiate the scan. A red light beams from the sides of the cylinder and goes up and down her whole body several times before stopping. A picture of a green cell flickers on above the controls. Tasha pushes me aside and starts working away.

            “What is that?” I ask her.

            “It’s the virus.” She answers simply and then stops working and turns to me. The cylinder opens and releases the little girl. Her skin flakes off and turns purple.

            “Um, sir?” I hear from behind me. I turn and see Tobe pointing to Donna, her skin was all purple and her eyes glowed red, she was in a seizure-like state on the floor.

            “Donna!” I yell and pin her to the ground, she was turning into a Banshee, and fast. Her pupils rolled back into her head and she stopped entirely. Her diaphragm slowly went up and down under me, filling her lungs with air.

            I slowly stood up and looked at her, the bones in her palms cracked and bended into paws. Her back started to arch over and shrivel. Before Donna finishes transforming a bullet whizzes past my head and sinks into her thick skull.