I think… she sent. I think they’re playing with each other.
Motion drew her gaze west, toward where the bioweapons had first made their entry. Other Kargs entered from the dead forest. She counted thirty. A chorus of clacking sounds came from them.
Got more, she sent. I’m taking cover.
Likewise, Will replied.
She ducked underneath the cupboard below the sink. As she pulled herself inside, she spotted more mouse skeletons and their fur balls. She involuntarily pressed her lips together in disgust. The profusion of droppings told her she was getting close to the nest.
Wonderful.
She wondered how many mice still lived. On the one hand, she hoped they were thriving, because if rodents could survive the harsh the environment the Outlands had become, that meant other life could thrive here, too. But on the other hand, she was terrified of the very notion, because, well, they were mice. She couldn’t shake the image that popped into her head, of hundreds of mice suddenly emerging from beneath the cupboard and crawling all over her. It made her shudder, and she almost pulled herself right out of there. But a quick glance at the other floor-level cupboards she’d opened told her that they weren’t any better, at least when it came to droppings and mouse corpses. Plus, most of them had shelves blocking out most of the free space.
They’re just mice, she told herself. Harmless, compared to Kargs.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself, then edged her way through the cupboard, taking care to avoid the tiny corpses as she squeezed between the sink’s drainpipe and the cupboard wall. When she reached the far corner, she hunkered down.
She glanced at her overhead map and confirmed that Will and Horatio had ensconced in other rooms nearby.
With her foot, she reached out past the lip of the cupboard and slowly closed each of the doors, being careful not to make a sound as she did so. A sliver of light indicated where the two doors met and provided enough illumination for her machine eyes to observe the alcove in all its skeletal-mouse detail.
All quiet so far? Rhea sent.
All clear on my end, Horatio replied.
Giz is tracking them, Will reminded her.
She glanced at her overhead map. Sure enough, red dots marked the positions of the Kargs, as recorded by the airborne drone. It was flying high enough to avoid detection.
Yeah, but Giz can’t see through the roof of the building, Rhea sent.
None of the bioweapons have entered yet, Will said. But see those two approaching the front? They’re the ones we have to worry about.
Indeed, two of the red dots were heading toward the main entrance. The first moved ahead of the other, then froze as it crossed the building threshold. The other dot did the same behind it—like she’d said, Gizmo couldn’t see through the roof, and the team was left with the last known positions of the bioweapons.
Nothing happened for several moments. She heard nothing saving for the inhale and exhale of her own nervous breathing. But then in the hallway just outside she heard the loud thudding of four hoofed feet, along with the occasional angry snort.
The noises became louder as obviously one of the bioweapons entered the kitchen. She heard the rising crack of wooden doors being broken off the hinges of kitchen cabinets as it advanced. She wondered if the Karg would find it odd that the cupboard beneath the sink was closed, whereas all the others were open. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to seal those doors with her foot.
She crouched as low as she was able, no longer caring about the dead mice and the droppings beneath her.
“Can they smell me?” she remembered asking Bardain during training. “I’m a cyborg…”
“Cyborgs have a characteristic scent,” Bardain had replied. “It’s closer to robot than human, but just as strong as the latter. The bioweapons won’t care either way: they’re drawn to anything that smells unlike the surrounding environment. And don’t you worry, they’ll eat you. The brain you carry in that metal skull is a tasty treat. For them it’s like cracking open a nut to get at the meat.”
“Thanks for that metaphor,” Rhea had told him.
She gazed at the dead mice and their droppings. The stench was overwhelming… with luck, it would mask her scent.
The thud of footfalls increased in volume until it sounded like the Karg was directly outside the cabinet. There was a pause, then one of the doors quickly opened and shut again as a dark crimson limb attempted to flick it wide. She caught a fleeting, terrifying glimpse of the segmented Karg head beyond.
The creature tried to open the door twice more like that, and Rhea caught sight of the Karg each time. After the third try, it paused once more. The creature would have caught short glimpses of the interior with its weak eyes, and perhaps that was enough to satisfy the Karg that there was nothing inside but dead mice and their poop. So far, she hadn’t noticed any of the characteristic noises of echolocation. Probably useless in such a confined place—too many echoes.
She glanced at her overhead map. It had updated, placing a red dot outside the cabinet, marking the Karg’s last known position as recorded by her vision.
She heard a muted thudding, as of feet shuffling in place. It was turning around.
She exhaled in relief.
They were going to get out of this without a fight after all.
Motion drew her eyes downward. A mouse crawled into view, squeezing through the left side of the hole where the metal drainpipe descended into the floor.
Instinctively, Rhea slammed her foot down, and crushed the mouse beneath her heal.
THUD.
Oops.
The doors shattered as a crimson appendage plunged inside. Rhea narrowly ducked as the talons that tipped it smashed into the
