The sun rises upon the irradiated Earth, as two friends, Pvt. Timothy Berfield and Pfc. Achmed Sabbag, are sent on a scavenger mission within the ruins of Berlin. The two were popular for getting into trouble within the unit, as many an unfortunate circumstance could more often than not be tied to both their names. Today however would mark a change in both their daily routines. Today, fate would have yet another incident occur, and the two would be irrevocably tied to the outcome for the rest of their lives………..
Tim sat behind the wheel of one of the many Urals that made up 3rd company’s motor pool, making his way down the crumbling roads of what was formerly Berlin. The vehicle was bulky, heavy, and didn't exactly turn on a dime. But Tim had years of experience operating the thing, and by this point, driving a heavy cargo truck was just second nature, no matter how bad the road conditions were. Riding shotgun was fellow-scout and best friend Achmed Sabbag, a man who for all intents and purposes had been with him every step of the way since he joined the militia.
Sarge decided to give the two a "special" assignment for the day, tasking them with a search and scavenge operation. The target was a large building about 2 kilometers from their outpost. The place had been on the search roster for months, but between the more promising locations it had been utterly ignored up until now. It's believed that it had once been a hospital, and the two were instructed to procure any and all medical supplies they could from it. While from an outside perspective this would seem like common protocol, the move was made by their CO for a reason. The main bulk of the company would be partaking in a heavy weapon retrieval today, and due to last week’s ammo dump incident caused by no other than the "dynamic duo"; a name so graciously given to the two by the rest of their unit, she wanted them nowhere near this job.
Fortunately the duo didn’t mind, and were more than happy to locate medical supplies seeing as they were in short supply back home. For Achmed, jobs like these were the persuading factor that brought him into this line of work to begin with. He felt that being assigned to some menial task work back in New Damascus wouldn't be helping the shortages everyone was facing. Everything from food, water, and medicine were being rationed very carefully, and given how his mother was currently suffering from a radiation induced fever, it made the decision to join the Militia's ranks more personal.
“Think we’ll find anything?” Achmed asked in his native tongue of Arabic.
Despite English being Tim's native language, he had no problem deciphering what his friend had said. After a few years of education provided by the Survivors, most people were bilingual. It was practically the social norm at this point, since everyone came from different parts of the world, and Arabic happened to be one of the main languages listed by the council. The others were English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi. All other languages were deemed secondary but weren't entirely uncommon to hear from time to time. Coalition education standards required everyone to learn at least two of the main languages, and the 3rd was made up mostly of English and Arabic speaking individuals. One was the language he studied in school and the other was his native tongue, making communication seamless.
“Not sure, man.” He replied in English. “Berlin got hit pretty hard during the war, but ya’ never know. Hell, we might just get lucky and find a working snack machine. Keep getting screwed over by em' everywhere we go.”
Achmed just smiled and rolled his eyes. He admired his friend’s optimism and resolve, even in the desperate state they now called life, Tim could still find something to look forward to.
“If that’s the case, I hope you have a couple of Euros on you.” Achmed replied.
“Achmed, come on, I’ll just bust the thing open.” Tim implied.
“Such vandalous behavior!" Achmed said with feigned shock. "What exactly are you gonna bust it open with?”
"Shit man, Sarge’ gave us guns, I’m sure we can figure somethin’ out.”
“She also said to not waste ammo. That stuff is harder to come by every day.”
“Never said we had to shoot it, probably just bash it open. Heard they’re made of plastic, so I figure they can’t be too durable.”
“You sure that’s smart? We might break our weapons.”
Tim began to laugh profusely.
“Dude, we’re armed with AKs!" Tim chuckled. "I’m sure if they survived the apocalypse they can survive a little beatin’ on some plexiglass."
"Fine, do what you have to." Achmed smirked. "But when you need to use your rifle and it blows up in your hands because a stray skittle found its way down the barrel, don't come crying to me."
"Hey now, you'll be there to patch my hands up though, right?"
"Nah, I think I'd just do the only morally acceptable thing and put you out of your misery. Like a dog with rabies."
The two shared a short laugh from the level of absurdity the conversation had taken. Talks like these were an easy way to pass time for the two, and offer a brief but pleasant reprieve from the troubles of life. However the talk would eventually come to an end when they found themselves at their objective. Coming up on their left was a large one-story structure atop of a modest sized hill, obscured by several burnt and decrepit trees.
"Is this the place?" Achmed asked.
Tim pulled out a small pocket map and began to unfold it. He looked to the crudely written down coordinates on the edge of the page and then to the coordinates laid out on the grid map sitting between them. Tim smiled and tapped a finger on the map in his hand.
"Sure is, road matches the one on our grid." Tim replied. "Let's get to work."
Tim shifted gears and drove the truck up to the building. When they reached the small parking lot surrounding it, the two were met with their first major obstacle. While the majority of the structure was still standing and intact, the canopy reaching over the front entrance had completely collapsed, preventing their entry.
“Well, not gettin’ in that way.” said Tim
“Let’s try and find another entrance.” Achmed replied. "Around the back maybe?"
"Sounds like a plan." Tim said with a nod.
Tim drove the truck around to the back of the building and sure enough, they managed to find an entry point in the form of a rear loading dock. Tim parked the Ural nearby, and with rifles raised and at the ready, the two proceeded to enter the building. The wasteland might have been desolate, but it wasn't entirely empty. Years of experience had shown them both that searching through derelict buildings had its own share of dangers, so it paid to be ready.
On their approach they saw that the large shutter door had been left wide open, making their entry effortless, but rendering any hope of first pickings null and void. As they stepped inside, the place was a complete wreck. The first room they encountered was undoubtedly some sort of warehouse storage, given the abundant amount of stock shelves where hospital supplies probably would have been stored. But given how the door had been left open for nearly two decades, nuclear fire and exposure to the outside world had rendered pretty much everything useless.
“Well shit. Isn't that a damn shame.” Tim cursed somberly
Achmed couldn’t help but feel the same way. The room was huge and had it not been exposed to the outside, it could have at least provided a portion of usable supplies. But alas, dwelling on things that could have been would prove to go nowhere, and Achmed sought to continue their mission.
“Come on Tim, we still have an entire building to search.” Achmed suggested.
Tim nodded in acknowledgement and the two proceeded further inside. As they traversed deeper into the building, they slowly began to notice their current environment lacked the layout, structure, and even aesthetics most would commonly attribute to a place of medical care.
“Tim, I don’t think this is a hospital.” Achmed stated.
“I’ve been thinkin’ the same thing." Tim concurred. "I haven’t seen one patient room since we got here.”
“No reception or X-ray rooms either. Not to mention, no bodies.”
Achmed had a point there, and Tim was surprised that he himself hadn't noticed it sooner. Most buildings that the Militia scavenged from often had their fair share of those who had met their end at one time or another. Skeletal remains of those who occupied them when the nukes fell, scavengers who got a little too careless and became some mutant's lunch, or sometimes an entire unit of soldiers who held out in the building in the midst of a battle. Most buildings had at least one corpse resting in their halls, but so far, this place had none, and as ironic as it may have sounded, that fact actually sent a shiver down Tim's spine. The two continued for some time before they reached an open room with a pair of doors that closed in from the sides, indicative of only one thing.
"Elevators?" Achmed questioned. "I thought this building was only one-story?"
"Sure looked that way." Tim said.
Tim approached the panel resting on the wall between them, and he noticed that it had two buttons, an alarm, and an down arrow. Curiously, Tim pressed the latter button a few times with no real thought.
"Guess it leads to a basement." Tim suggested.
"Still, an elevator seems a bit redundant for-"
A loud noise of aged metal grinding in motion sent the two men into defensive positions, guns at the ready as the doors to their right suddenly slid open. A red emergency light flickered on and revealed a small unfurnished elevator car. The two eased down as they came to a surprising realization.
"This place still has power?!" Achmed exclaimed. "After all these years?"
"Alright, this definitely ain't a fuckin' hospital." Tim claimed.
Achmed slowly stepped inside, testing the waters of how stable this thing was after so many years without use. As far as he knew, it seemed stable enough, and upon concluding it was safe, he immediately darted his gaze over to the control panel. His eyes practically went white when he saw how far down it went.
"Holy hell." Achmed mouthed breathlessly. "This thing goes down thirty floors!"
"You're shittin' me!?" Tim exclaimed.
Tim stepped inside as well, and sure enough, Achmed was right. The panel before him was organized in 6 rows, each one composed of three buttons labelled with their respected number, a total of thirty in all.
"What the hell is this place?" Tim asked.
"I suppose we're going to find out." Achmed confessed.
“Start from the bottom, work our way up floor by floor?” Tim suggested.
“That sounds reasonable.”
Achmed pressed the button labeled 30 and the doors shut automatically. They felt the momentum of the car begin to slowly descend. A digital screen flickered on, revealing the number of each floor they passed as they made their way down to the very bottom. As they waited, Tim struck up a conversation.
“So Achmed, how’s your mom doing’?” he asked.
Achmed looked at his friend, and then to the floor, letting out a sorrowful sigh.
“Not well, Tim. I get letters from my sister every so often, it's only getting worse. She’s becoming delusional. The doctors can only help to such an extent and they say she's only a month or so away from-”
“Hey, we’ll find more meds before that happens.” Tim promised. "She'll be fine."
“I appreciate your optimism Tim, but you don’t need to worry about me. She’s 54, if her time comes I’ll grieve, but I’ll accept her death. I'll move on.”
“Maybe you will, but I doubt Suha feels the same way. She’s only 13 man, if your mom passes she'll be growing up without a mother for most of her life. Not to mention you’ll have to leave the 3rd to take care of her.”
“I'm well aware of that, Tim." Achmed shot back.
The sudden sharpness of his friend's reply caught Tim a little off guard. Achmed saw his reaction and immediately toned it back to his usual calm demeanor. This was a conversation Achmed had hoped to avoid, but it had to happen, and soon.
"No sooner than the present I guess." Achmed chimed to himself.
"Look Tim, this is gonna be hard for you to hear, but I never had plans to stay in the Militia my whole life like you. I did it so I could help my family and the rest of the people back home, something that could make an actual difference. I had hoped that there could be enough supplies to see my mother through her ailment, but that clearly isn't happening. Like you said, I have to be a guardian for Suha, and odds are that's going to happen soon. Come next re-enlistment, I'm probably going to take my papers and leave.”
Tim was silent but had locked sight with the eyes of his friend, unable to decide if he was angry or not. He knew that Achmed had a duty to his family, but to Tim who lost his own family as a child, Achmed and the 3rd were his family. To see one leave the Militia voluntarily wasn't unheard of but most intended to do this for life. The two had served together for nearly five years now, and the fact that Tim was just learning about this now not only caught him off guard, but elicited a slight feeling of disappointment and even betrayal.
“You planned on leaving? And you never told me until now?! Dude, we’ve been workin’ together for five years and you’re now just telling me this?!” Tim asked harshly.
Achmed was somewhat surprised and even a little offended by the response he got from his friend. The usual level-headed nature he had known Tim for was utterly absent at this moment in time.
“Tim you honestly didn’t expect me to stay forever did you?” Achmed asked in earnest.
“Yes! That’s what we do, that’s what everyone who joins usually does!”
“Well I’m the exception! Tim I can-”
Achmed's voice was cut off by the loud ding of the elevator. The doors opened and before them was a dimly lit hallway, at its end was a set of heavily fortified bulkheads. Achmed decided that maybe a little time to contemplate could help tensions between him and his friend.
“Look, Tim, if you want, we’ll talk about this back at the outpost. But right now, we have a job to do.” Achmed suggested.
Without hesitation, Achmed proceeded to walk down the hallway. Tim was still rather irritated and upset, enough that he wasn't about to let this go. But he had to agree with Achmed, now was neither the time or place for this conversation. As Tim followed Achmed from behind, he noticed that the hall was a light gray color and the lights were dimmed, most likely due to a low power supply. The fact that this building had any power at all meant it had its own grid, a trait usually reserved for either transit hubs or military facilities. They were halfway to the doors when Tim broke the silence.
“Guess whatever's behind that door will give us an idea to what this place is." Tim insinuated. "Any ideas on how to open it?”
“No idea. It doesn’t exactly have handles.” Achmed quipped.
"Maybe we try knocking?" Tim joked.
As Achmed rolled his eyes, he inadvertently caught something. He squinted his eyes for a closer inspection, but the aforementioned visibility wasn’t doing him any favors. Achmed went for his belt and pulled out a flashlight and shined it on the door for verification.
“Well then.” Achmed said surprisingly, “Looks like we won’t have to, it’s already open.”
“What?” Tim said doubtfully.
Tim pulled out his own flashlight to confirm if what Achmed said was true.
"Huh? I'll be damned." Tim said.
As they approached the massive bulkhead, they noticed that while it was slightly ajar, it wasn't open wide enough to get through. The doors themselves were composed with inches of thick reinforced steel. They both looked at one another, and instantly knew what needed to be done.
“Well, the door won’t open itself.” Achmed stated, “Let’s get to work.”
The two took places by the opened door and began to push. The task was just as hard as it looked, even for two decently built men, they could only move it at a sluggish pace.
"GHHH!........This thing is fuckin' heavier than sin!" grunted Tim.
"Just shut up and....HHN! Keep pushing!" Achmed retorted.
After twenty seconds of exertion, the duo managed to get it open just wide enough so that they could squeeze through. After a brief period to recollect and catch their breath, they went inside. The room they entered was gigantic, but dark, as the light from the hallway barely reached the inside. The two men once again took their flashlights in hand.
"Ready for the big reveal?" Achmed asked.
"Let there be light." Tim replied.
With one flick of a switch, the two were stunned by what was revealed.
"Holy mother of Mary." Tim breathed
"Ya Allahi." Achmed chuckled.
The rays of light revealed to them a room littered with more control panels, computers, charts, equipment and papers than one could feasibly expect to find in the Science Branch's research labs. But what really laid the icing on the cake was what stood at the room's center. Amongst the labyrinth of cables and conduits that snaked across the walls and floors, everything converged on one singular gigantic arch-like structure, covered in layers of wires, outlets, and rods. A metal platform sat before it, and a little further back, another platform housed a massive set of control panels. All in all, its presence was almost like that of an ancient monolith of a bygone era. The two simply stared in awe for what felt like a solid minute, when Achmed finally broke the silence.
“You think this beats the snack machine?” he jested.
They both began to chuckle as they began traversing around the room, taking everything in with an overwhelming sensation of discovery.
“What is this thing?” Tim asked as he approached the giant arch.
“Whatever it is, it was something big. Maybe some fancy pre-war operation or something?" Achmed guessed. "All the instructions seem to be written in German. You speak German, right Tim?”
“Just the basics, and I’m sure anything here is beyond that.”
Achmed was looking over the control panels on the far platform, each had its own set of screens, knobs, switches, and keyboards. He had no idea what any of this stuff did, but it's complexity didn't need to be stated. A thought then occurred to him, if this place still had power, then all these controls could still be active.
“Hey Tim!" He called out. "Let’s try not to touch anything. If the power is still partially active, there's a chance we could turn it on by accident."
“Good idea! Hey, get Sarge’ on the horn, we need to tell her about this. The Science Branch is about to have a fucking field day with this one.”
Achmed went for the small radio on his belt when he heard something shuffle from up and behind him. His heart skipped a beat as the most unsettling hiss came from above. He darted around quickly with rifle in hand, however he wasn't nearly fast enough. Before he could even line up a sight, the ventilation shaft embedded within the wall behind him was thrown forward, and out came his attacker, a lurker mutant with hunger in its bloodshot eyes. It roared, pouncing on Achmed as its arms and insect like legs attempted to wrap around and immobilize him. Achmed yelled as he contested with the beast, immediately catching Tim's attention.
“SHIT!” Tim cursed.
Tim raised his gun, ready to fire. But the mutant was still on Achmed and he feared shooting his friend by mistake. Achmed was fighting with every shred of strength he had to throw this abomination off of his back, but it was much stronger than he was.
“TIM............AHH!.........................I COULD USE YOUR HELP!!” screamed Achmed.
Tim began to race towards Achmed as he maneuvered around the room. But as if fate wanted to deal a crippling blow, he was right in front of the arch when the monster smashed Achmed into the control panel. Their was a loud whir as multiple machines and hardware sprung to life. A loud crack popped behind Tim. When he turned around, Tim was met with one of the strangest sights of his life. Seemingly out of nowhere, the air within the portal began to distort, and a small swirling blue vortex hovering a few feet off the ground appeared in its place. Arcs of lightning periodically shot out at short distances as the radius of the vortex grew larger.
“Uh.....Achmed, what the hell did you do!?” Tim shouted in distress.
Achmed managed to finally throw the creature off of him, giving him enough time to pull out his P226 sidearm and fire six shots into its skull and chest. The mutant fell lifelessly to the ground with a shriek. When Achmed quickly recollected himself, his attention turned immediately towards Tim, who failed to reach him in time. He turned around, angry and shouted.
“Thanks for the help, assh-!”
"ACHMED!!!"
Achmed's sentence came to an abrupt end when he noticed what Tim was more worried about. The gaping blue vortex had grown in significant size, shooting out grand arcs of lightning and began generating airflow in towards itself, sucking in a multitude of loose leaf papers, computers, chairs, miscellaneous items and at that current moment, his best friend. Tim had already been swept off his feet and was being sucked in towards the raging portal when Achmed had turned around. Now, he was desperately holding for dear life onto the railing of the platform, anchoring himself as best as he could manage in the insane conditions.
“TURN IT OFF!!!!!!!” Tim screamed.
Achmed began to panic. He didn’t have a clue how this machine worked or what he was pressed up against in that scuffle with the mutant that turned the machine on in the first place. There was the possibility that he could make it worse if he touched the wrong button.
"Just my fucking luck!" Achmed swore mentally. "I tell him not to touch anything and look what I just did!"
“ACHMED!!! I CAN'T HOLD ON!!!” Tim yelled once more.
“FUCK! HOLD ON! I’M TRYING, TIM! JUST HOLD ON!”
Tim’s fingers were slipping, the air current was unnaturally strong, as if he was fighting the current of a raging river. Achmed was forced to throw caution at the wind when he began to feel himself being pulled, and frantically began flipping switches, pressing buttons, and pulling levers. When he pulled down on one of the black levers, the portal let out a heavy acoustic shockwave. It soon began to shrink, getting smaller and smaller in size but at an inconveniently prolonged pace. Unfortunately, Tim wasn't able to hold on for a second longer. He lost his grasp just as the portal began to shrink down in size. He screamed in terror as he was quickly sucked into the raging vortex, his entire body enveloped by the blue energy. Within a fraction of a second, he disappeared through the portal just before it vanished. Achmed yelled in despair.
“TIM!!!!!”