Thirty Four Minutes DEAD (12 page)

The success ratio pertaining to the Chicago explorations was excellent and by the end of the third week, the MC team had been involved in over twenty productive explorations, with only one failure. The latter exploration failed because the victim had died due to a blow to the back of her head without building any HVs or trapping any useful supporting sound. In effect the killer had left nothing to indicate their presence and the victim's memory camera couldn't subsequently register their existence. The MC team had been disappointed by the failure, but the victim was killed on impact and was denied any chance to visually capture her killer. Vain found this second negative demonstration more palatable to accept, as the victim of this lethal attack was unaware of her circumstances due to the blind-side factor which led up to her death, and thus she would not have suffered the way other MC exploration victims had.

The MC team workload had been so arduous during the initial three weeks that Vain had wondered if all three would survive it. His thoughts were mainly focused on Ko-Chai, who had experienced heart problems three years previous. Both Vain and Tavini were very healthy in comparison to Ko-Chai, but even the athletic Tavini had looked jaded in some of their recent explorations. Vain fought this fatigue by snatching sleep when he could and partaking in the occasional walk along the lowest corridors of Designation J. He had met up with Levene twice in this area of the Designation, and on the Tuesday of the fourth week both encountered each other for the third time.

"I hoped you would be here, Greg. This bottom corridor that we walk through is over a kilometre in length you know!”

"You're a mine of information, Marcia. How the hell did you come up with that stat?”

"I've told you before Greg, I need to know as many project-related details as possible. It's become a habitual obsession for me, and when we're in a tomb like this Designation it helps fill any vacant time. Looking at Designation J architectural plans with Mr Denison were one way of enduring our subterranean existence! The key word is survival here, Greg. Being down here could induce a condition similar to the 'coffin effect' experienced by some submarine crew members. I mean we’re all crying out for fresh air - it's the collective wish of all project members at this moment in time".

As the pair proceeded through the corridor, they gradually became closer physically and when they reached the end of their only route, Vain turned to face Levene.

She spoke to him unguarded, with regard to her choice of words.

"Hold me Greg - like there's no fucking tomorrow! That's all I ask for, nothing heavy, and nothing to break your marriage vows, just a sign of warmth in this godforsaken hole! This is my living hell you know, Greg. My phobia's been claustrophobia since I was eleven, after my brother had locked me in a cupboard under our stairwell. Please hold me".

Gregory Vain saw Levene's request as a genuine cry from the heart. Tears had been in her eyes when she uttered her words and Vain felt impelled to comfort her. He cradled her in his arms and her face sunk into his chest. Vain was surprised by the intensity of the feelings he suddenly felt for this rather beautiful woman. Gone was the
fatale
style that had previously enshrouded Levene, and in its place appeared an almost childlike dependency. Vain slowly lifted Levene's face and saw two lines of mascara based tears falling unevenly down her cheeks. Their ensuing kiss encapsulated their mutual thoughts, speaking a thousand words in the process. Vain's tongue probed Levene's soft mouth and his hands translated his mounting passion, as his nails gently marked the small of her back. After a couple of minutes he broke away, as his guilt became overbearing and family recollections dominated his mind. Levene didn't react with hostility to the disruption of their kiss. She had anticipated this initial passionate gesture between them would induce feelings of betrayal in her married project partner.

Vain put his arm around Levene's back again as the two of them retraced their steps back to the main Designation area. His guilt trip was short-lived in comparison to the duration he initially thought it would have lasted, and whilst either of them could have laughed off the gesture as 'just a kiss', both knew that it signified the deeper attraction that was evident in both individuals. The dye had been cast. As the pair parted, Levene whispered her thanks to Vain and lightly kissed him on the cheek. Vain was left to reflect on their meeting, and as he settled down for a three-hour sleep period his libido was still working overtime.

Gregory Vain awoke and was initially confused as to why he had beaten his alarm signal. Usually Vain was almost robotic in his three-hour sleep shifts, awakening either a couple of minutes before the signal or after hearing the electronic shrill sound. On this occasion Vain was awake for fifty minutes before the signal and he knew that something was amiss.

An acrid smell started to drift through Vain's sleeping quarters and as its presence escalated, Vain hurriedly put on a shirt and jeans. As he dressed the Designation fire alarms went off simultaneously. He raced out into the adjacent corridor and was met by a black smoke and fumes.

Vain choked on the fumes as he proceeded toward Levene's sleeping quarters. He woke the sleeping Levene and pulled her into the corridor. She had managed to grab her long coat but was naked underneath. Both project members ran towards the Fire assembly checkpoint but encountered flames just short of their intended destination.

"Come on Marcia, let's try the mid corridors - this way's a ticket to the fucking undertaker!”

As the pair raced through the mid-sections of the Designation, they heard screams and Vain initially hesitated. Levene helped to focus his thoughts in the panic pertaining to their situation.

"Move it Greg, they're fucking doomed, you know!"

"Who are, Marcia?”

"Only a couple of selection squads in the 'sealed' confine sections".

"They're going to fry alive, Marcia. We've got to help them!”

"They already are, Greg. Fuck them. Come on let's move it, or we'll join them!”

Levene temporarily took the lead and pulled Vain closer to the assembly area. When the pair finally arrived at the said area they were hurriedly packaged into the waiting lift by Fray, who was overseeing the Designation evacuation. His instructions were as concise as ever despite the pressure the fire had generated.

"Marcia, Greg. The MC gear's safe. When you get up top, stick with Leif's crew. He's waiting for you up there now. You may need these because it's South Side scum-land up there and MC staff could well become targets for the criminals that are going to arrive when they see the fire vehicles. Don't engage in any verbal stuff; just shoot any bastard that gets too close. I'll be up in a short while. See you up there".

The pair were not prepared for the scene that awaited them when they arrived at ground level. Denied any seasonal context for over three weeks they were initially surprised at the severity of the weather conditions. Early November snow was quite commonplace in Chicago, but the last time the pair had been on the surface in their rest period location the elements had been very mild, carrying the last throes of summer. Now ten inches of snow lay heaped on the ground, and a lurid light emanated from this white covering amidst the darkness of a 02.00 Chicago morning. The fire vehicles’ electric blue lighting contributed to the almost surreal atmosphere, with the snow reflecting the blue strobe in a chaotic style of its own construction. Sound was similarly discordant, with sirens and agitated voices competing for dominance. The project members had not been primed by media reports concerning the meteorological conditions as all forms of extrapersonal communications were banned in the Designations barring the MC display screens. The reason for the media blackout was linked to the maintenance of the insular concentration that was collectively important for all project staff.

The gunshot shattered Vain and Levene's transient contemplation. One of the firemen fell dead and Blyth Carson's voice suddenly dominated the environment.

"Hit the fucking deck guys, some 'ghetto-posse' boys have started shooting".

As the project staff took cover, Fray and Denison took control of the situation. Denison's voice became the most dominant.

"Stay down, project crew. That scum smelt our presence. Just keep away from the fire guys dousing the Designation entrances. Keep your fire trained on the two north-western high rises and don't worry - those guys are gonna be in for one fucking surprise in a couple of minutes!”

Vain fired back into the said buildings, and the collective MC project guns sent back traces made by bullet trajectories which added an almost aesthetic spectacle to the gun battle! Another firemen took a bullet in the shoulder, and Fray made sure security staff added more bulletproof cover to corral the fire fighters.

Two of the forty who had witnessed the Venison demonstration fell dead near Vain and Levene, with head shots that pumped blood on the snow. One of the dead had fallen with his head turned towards Levene and Vain. His dead face was mask like, having a frozen expression that was akin to the 'tragedy' muse in its appearance. It seemed to look straight into Levene's eyes.

The gunfire continued for ten minutes and then Mr Fray's surprise arrived on the scene.

Three armour-plated vehicles with rocket launcher rear sections sped past the MC staff and reversed towards the buildings that housed the ghetto posse. Then there ensued a synchronised intensive fire volley from the respective vehicles, and the lower stories of the buildings were all but totally destroyed.

Not content with this devastation, Fray gave the order for two of the vehicles to intermittently blast the upper sections of the structures with 'surface to air' type missiles. If the gun battle had been closely fought before the arrival of the vehicles, it was now a totally one-sided confrontation with no fire being returned toward the MC ranks. Internal explosions started to occur within the buildings, and when the MC project vehicles temporarily paused for realignment purposes, the first inhabitants emerged from the two buildings. Many had been severely cut by flying glass, some had been badly burned and a few had lost limbs in part or whole. There were a minority of posse members, but the overwhelming majority of individuals were not armed, some of them being families.

Fray then selected his next stratagem and raced into action. Leading a contingent of eight FBI centred MC project members, Fray charged toward the survivors of his blitzkrieg. He started to unload his machine pistol into the ranks of the former occupants and was assisted to a 'right hand man' level by a project member whom Vain had not seen before. In the midst of the chaos pertaining to this kind of situation, one individual didn't usually stand out, but Fray's accomplice was no ordinary project member.

The said individual was a giant of a man who wore a heavy-duty combat uniform. He was often ahead of Fray with regard to the massacre that was taking place, and after a short while he discarded his military style helmet as the opposition had been quelled.

This factor didn't stop the shootings though.

Denison started ushering the MC staff into a project transportation vehicle, which was in readiness for the evacuation of MC project staff. Designation J had been written off, but another site in Michigan had already been set up for such an eventuality. This would shortly be the new project base, and as Vain and Levene slumped into a double seat, both had a short time to survey the scene outside. Two things dominated Vain's memory-camera with regard to his final look at the battle zone.

The first was an image of the silver-haired Fray and his black second in command laughing as they surveyed a group of corpses and the second was an image of a child clambering over the dead body of it's mother, crying and touching her face.

Chicago had been a hell on earth.

The journey out of Chicago was undertaken at high speed, and the MC project ranks preserved a uniform silence due to the collective fatigue that had taken its toll on all staff. The hurried nature of the Designation J evacuation had meant that the project members were in varying states of dress, ranging from semi-naked like Levene to the immaculate attire of Denison. Vain wondered if the MC project leader ever slept. Gregory Vain's mind kept on replaying the key events pertaining to the night’s events and his thoughts were only interrupted when the sleeping Levene murmured in her uneasy slumber. Her words were not readily discernible, but her body language was occasionally suggestive in its execution with her hands reaching out for Vain, stroking his chest in the process. Vain didn't wake the woman, but he was glad the pair had located one of the vehicle's rear seats, because her posture would have incited rumours amongst some of their fellow project members.

The Michigan replacement Designation would be comparatively ambient after the claustrophobia that had characterised Designation J. Although project members would have preferred to leave in less frightening circumstances, tempers had begun to fray, and the transference was thus a blessing in disguise to a fair proportion of the MC project staff.