Scarlet Dreams

Prologue:

No one knows where they came from, but I suspect that they were here all along, hiding in plain sight. All anyone really knows is that one day the world was operating as it always had, and then the next day cities on every continent were in flames. Military efforts to stop the wave of destruction were met with swift defeat. Even the might of the American, Russian, and Chinese militaries were no match for them. In the matter of hours nearly every country fell into anarchy as blood flowed in the streets.

We still don’t know what they want or why they are so hell bent on our extinction, but there are too few of us left to fight. Worse still, every week it seems there is a new horror we must face, each worse than the one before. My name is Silas Jones, and this is the story of how humanity ends.

At least, it will be if I can’t find some way out of this nightmarish reality. The others have lost hope, and I don’t blame them. We’ve all seen far too much death, and all of us have lost loved ones since the scourge began. That’s the only name I can give to explain what has befallen our world; a scourge. Many believe that we are being punished, that the sins of humanity grew too great and that is why we must suffer this end.

I say to hell with that line of thinking. No sin in this world could justify the extinction happening all around the globe. The dinosaurs had a comet, we have the scourge. It’s too late to save human society, and perhaps that is for the best, but we must try to save the species from extinction. I just hope I can find what I’m looking for before it is too late.

Chapter 1: The library

“We’re finally here,” I whisper to Anne as we cross the decaying threshold into a cavernous room. It is musty and dark, illuminated only by scattered beams of pale blue moonlight leaking through the glass ceiling high above us. I can’t help but wonder how stunning this library must have been back before the world ended.

“I really wish we weren’t here at all,” Anne protests in a hushed tone. I ignore this and press forward into the room. I move as quietly as I can and Anne does the same. We’ve both learned the hard way that just because ruins such as these seem vacant, that doesn’t mean death isn’t waiting around any given corner.

“It might be easier if we split up,” I offer, already knowing Anne’s answer.

“Are you insane?” She hisses a little more loudly than she should. She realizes her error and claps her hand over her mouth with an expression that says I’m sorry. Both of us stay where we are, frozen and crouched behind a dusty bookcase lined with decaying textbooks. I hold my breath trying to hear any movement in the building. A few moments pass in silence and I let my breath out. I don’t chastise Anne for her error in judgment because I know she’s already doing that herself. She’s always been too hard on herself.

“Okay, we’ll stick together. We need to find the research section,” I say in the quietest whisper I can manage. Anne just nods and we begin to move through the building again. This time we make our way over to the front desk. My hope is that there will be some sort of layout for the library indicating where the various sections are. If there isn’t, we’re going to have to do it the old fashioned way and that’s simply too great of a risk. Coming here at night instead of during the day was a gamble. The replicants are far more dangerous at night than during the day, but it was a risk worth taking if we can find what I’m hoping is here.

“Do you really think we will find anything on the replicants here?” Anne asks me, giving me an incredulous expression. Replicant is the name that our group has given the monsters that haunt our fallen world. More specifically it’s the name my father gave them before he died two years ago. His obsession with Blade Runner was legendary, and given that the first replicants of our world had the ability to mimic the form of anyone they touched, the name was fitting.

“I don’t know. All I know is that Dr. Staples worked at this university and her work is the only source of information I’ve ever found on replicants,” I say as I walk behind the front desk and start scanning for any signs of a building layout. Anne follows suit. We try our best not to disturb anything on the desk if we don’t have to in the hopes that we minimize the risk of being heard.

“Here,” Anne whispers, pointing at a laminated sheet taped to the inside of a half open drawer. She pulls the drawer out as gingerly as she can but no matter how much of the map we are able to see, this part of the building is too dark to read the legend.

“Damnit, we’re going to have to use the flashlight,” I conclude. Anne gives me a pained expression. Darkness has become our friend. Using a flashlight is practically a death wish most of the time, not to mention the severe scarcity of functional batteries to power them. Using a flashlight has become a last resort saved for only the most dire circumstances.

“We could just come back during the day, Silas,” Anne offers with a hopeful expression. I shake my head which wipes the hopeful look from her face. She pulls a small black metal flashlight from her backpack and hands it to me. I take it and look around the library one more time. I listen as keenly as I’m able but the only sound I can hear is the beating of my heart.

“Keep an eye out,” I say, nodding my head towards the holster on Anne’s right hip. She reads my meaning and pulls the glock 45 out from the holster. Gripping it tightly she raises it up to her cheek, ready to aim if needed. Taking a deep breath I click on the flashlight. The brightness is almost blinding after wandering through the dark for the past two hours. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light and I scour the legend for the research section. I find it on the legend and begin to search the layout for it. My heart drops as I find it. Letting out a sigh, I shut the flashlight off.

“What? What’s wrong?” Anne asks, the alarm apparent on her face.

“It’s on the second floor in the northwest corner,” I say. She looks at me with a confused expression.

“Why is that a bad thing?” She asks.

I point over to the northwest corner of the building. She looks in the direction I’m pointing and she lets out a low groan. The northwest corner of the building is in ruins, likely after an artillery shell exploded nearby. The blast destroyed much of the building’s exterior and the roof must have collapsed after being exposed to the elements for several years without repair.

“What do you want to do?” she asks me. I know that she wants me to say that we should either head home or find some secluded and defensible corner to sleep the rest of the night away.

“We’ve come this far Anne, I’m not leaving without Dr. Staples’s research,” I say.

“Silas, how are we going to rummage through that wreckage without being heard? It’s bad enough we are in here, but that part of the building is exposed to the outside. There could be replicants out in the street. We should go home, or at least wait until daylight where we can see better.

Just as I’m about to protest I hear a faint sound off to my right. I hold up a finger to my lips and nod towards the sound. Anne gives me a puzzled look. A few moments of silence pass before I hear the sound again, this time slightly louder. Either my ears are playing tricks on me or I can hear voices carrying on the wind outside. Anne must come to the same conclusion because her eyes grow wide with fear. Both of us are frozen in place as we listen for more sounds. A few moments pass before another sound can be heard, this time it’s deeper but it’s unmistakeably a voice.

Both of us start looking around the library for somewhere to hide at the same exact moment. I consider some of the collapsed and overturned bookcases as potential hiding places but before I can suggest them Anne points to a small office about thirty feet to my left. It has a metal door with a window in it. The glass in the window has mesh metal inside of it, meaning that the room is intended to be hard to break into. It’s unlikely to completely stop a replicant from breaking through it, but it would at least give us a few extra seconds to either escape or try to kill the replicant.

Neither of us speaks as we both head towards the office as quickly and quietly as we can. The sound of conversation coming from outside the building is growing slightly louder with each passing minute. We make our way to the office and peer inside it. It seems to be some sort of records room and is completely deserted. Anne ushers me through the door and follows after me, gently pulling the door shut behind her. She locks the bolt on the door as I find a cabinet to hide behind. She follows suit, hiding behind a different cabinet on the opposite end of the wall I’m against. Both of us are able to see the door if we need to.

Neither of us speaks while we wait with bated breath. To my dismay the sound of conversation has become more distinct and a moment later I can make out the sound of the library’s front door opening with a squeak. Anne and I exchange glances as I pull out the bayonet knife I inherited from my father. I grip the handle tightly as I listen closely.

“Are you certain you saw a light?” A woman’s voice asks from the foyer of the library. Her voice is muffled by the closed door but the rotting interior of the building has made the room less than soundproof.

“Yes, dammit! I saw a yellow light,” Another voice snaps back. This voice has a glutoral pitch to it. Anne and I lock eyes as we both come to the same conclusion. The second voice belongs to one of the lesser breeds of replicant. If I had to guess I would say it was likely a crawler, named after their seemingly impossible ability to crawl up walls and along ceilings like a mutated human-like spider.

“I think you are imagining things, Gollen,” The female voice says impatiently.

“No,” the other voice replies, “I can smell them... definitely human.”

“I don’t smell anything beside rotting books,” The female voice says in an annoyed tone.

“There are two of them... a woman and... I don’t know...”

“You don’t know?” the woman asks.

“Their scent is... odd. It’s like a mixture of male and female” the gluttoral voice says.

“Now you are definitely imagining things. Come on, let’s go. We have other things we need to get done without getting sidetracked by your finicky nose. I’m in no mood to get on Valeria’s bad side tonight.”

Anne and I exchange glances again. Is it possible they are talking about the Valeria? I wonder. Valeria is the self-proclaimed queen of the replicants and powerful beyond belief. The stories I’ve heard about her seemingly impossible abilities are enough to keep me awake at night. Even the most dangerous of replicants seem to fear her.

The one named Gollen lets out a low growl before saying, “Fine. Let’s go.”

“Good, it smells awful in here. Come on,"the woman says. I decide to risk peeking around the cabinet and see a tall blonde woman wearing a white suit walking back towards the library entrance. Behind her is a squat, twisted creature that looks more like a goblin than anything human. As I suspected, it is a crawler. He turns to look over his shoulder, his gaze pointed directly towards me. I freeze in panic, hoping that I haven’t just doomed us. I offer a prayer that curiosity won’t kill this cat.

To my immense relief Gollen seems not to have spotted me and turns his gaze back towards the woman in front of him. They disappear out of sight and a moment later I hear the library door squeak as they open and shut if. I let out a long sigh and close my eyes. If there is a God up there, thank you, I think to myself.

Neither Anne nor myself move or come out of our hiding places for at least fifteen minutes. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone jumped the gun only to find that the replicant they thought was gone was actually just lying in wait. Content that the two replicants are gone for good I step out from behind the cabinet and walk towards the door, crouching low so I’m not easily spotted. I get to the door and peer around the library. Nothing is stirring in the pale moonlight. I look back at Anne and nod. She lets out a sigh of relief and comes out from behind her cabinet.

“I told you this was a bad idea,” She whispers in a chastising tone.

“You’re right, I know. I’m just glad they didn’t find us,” I admit.

“Please tell me we aren’t going to go rummaging through wreckage in the dark after that just happened.”

“No, of course not. We’d need the flashlight to do that and I doubt they’d ignore seeing a light a second time. We’ll stay here and wait until morning.”

“Thank God,” Anne says, lowering her backpack before slumping to the ground and sitting with her back against the wall.

“I’ll take first watch. Why don’t you try to get some rest.”

“I won’t argue with that. Here, take this,” She says, holding out the Glock towards me. I reluctantly take it. I’ve never cared for guns, but living through the collapse of human society has made them a necessity. Anne pushes her backpack towards the corner of the room and lays down, resting her head on the pack. “Good night, Silas.”

“Good night. Try not to snore,” I tease.

“I do not snore!” She hisses at me with a frown.

“If you say so,” I smile at her.

She rolls her eyes and goes back to trying to sleep. After about ten minutes her breathing becomes rhythmic, interrupted every so often by quiet little snores. I’d never tell her that I thought this was adorable or that it was my favorite thing about her, but I can’t help but smile at her while she sleeps.

She has been my stalwart companion ever since the fall of society. We were good friends before but we are practically inseparable now. It’s incredible what shared trauma will do for loyalty and trust. There is no one in the world I trust more than Anne. Even before the replicants tore our world to shreds she was my closest confidant. She was the first person I told about my gender dysphoria and the first person I told about my decision to transition from female to male.

I was born Sarah Lynn Jones, named after my grandmother, but I have always been Silas on the inside. Anne actually helped me pick out my new name and was one of my witnesses for my legal name and gender change. All of that seems like it happened a lifetime ago in a completely different world. One where gender and sexuality mattered and impacted the quality of your life. Now, no one cares who you love or how you identify. The only thing anyone cares about anymore is survival.

When I was in college one of my professors would argue that gender was a social construct. I never fully believed that back then, but now it’s basically proven at this point. Gender no longer matters. No one argues about bathrooms and sports and what pronouns to use. The only thing we argue about these days is who is going out on a supply run, knowing full well that it could be our last.

People no longer see me as transgender, they just see Silas, fellow human and survivor of the end of days. The thing is, Anne has always seen me the way people see me now, minus the end of days part. She never saw me through the lens of socially constructed gender roles and norms, she simply saw who I was on the inside, and crazily enough liked what she saw.

The familiar emotion of affection creeps into my chest as I listen to her quiet snores. She doesn’t know it but she’s the reason we are here in this dank, decrepit relic of human society. We came to this library so I could find the missing piece to the replicant puzzle, and it’s all for her. I want to see her the way she was before all the horror and trauma. I want to see her happy again. That’s why this was worth the risk, because I’m so close to finding the answer to our problem. I’m so close to finding the greatest weakness of the replicants...

To be continued in episode 2: The Office