Beyond Survival: Chapter 8

Nevada Base, Earth.

At the massive platform that housed the exit points for the ten Hyperloop corridors, Colonel Alice worked with the local troops to maintain order and help move the civilians to the temporary communal area from which they would be slowly moved to the other side of the Project: Exodus’s gate.

It is a hectic job, dealing with the distraught, depressed, angry, and suicidal bunch of civilians that, more often than not, took out their emotions on the military units that were trying to help them.

The military units understood that these people did not truly mean what they were saying and their actions were born from hurt. However, everyone has a snapping point, including the soldiers who risked their life and limb for these people day and night.

It was one such situation that she was dealing with right now.

“It is because of you and your stupid wars that all of this has happened-“

“Do you even hear yourself? Are you saying that we caused the Stellar Storm and brought The Corruption to Earth?”

“You must have! What other explanation is there? God must have-“

“’God!?’ Don’t be ridiculous. If there really was a God, then none of this-“

“Enough! Both of you.”

Alice’s firm and serious voice cut off the two men, one civilian and one military, who were seconds away from coming to blows over something minor.

Looking at the civilian and signaling towards a group of soldiers to take him away into custody, she turned to the soldier and gave him a glare.

“Control yourself, Private. This is no time to indulge in your emotions. We are on the clock, and we can’t afford such distractions. Return to your station.”

“…Yes Ma’am.”

The soldier reluctantly moved away from the whispering crowd as Alice turned her glare toward them, making them flinch.

“And what are you people staring at? Did we tell you to stop moving? Move! Move! Move!!”

The large group of civilians immediately started scattering towards the various queues leading into the complex in abject fear, knowing that their lives were now in the hands of these military men and women.

Something that Alice also knew and hated to her bone.

It was not always like this.

During the beginning years of The Corruption, the various governments around the world came together and finally united under an external threat, giving hope to all humanity with their leadership and quick judgments.

However, as the situation continued deteriorating and hope became bleaker by the day, these so-called leaders slowly started to fall apart.

Some turned to extreme ideas, others turned to religion, and many others chose many different approaches.

It was a chaotic time that spanned roughly two years. Two years that could have been spent to better fortify their infrastructure and research The Corruption, to better combat it, failing which, researching ways to save humanity.

Instead, all that time was spent on stupid infighting over different ideologies and emotions.

In the end, many religious groups came together and became extremist groups that wanted to end everything by killing all humans and themselves to appease the various gods of the many cultures of humanity.

Worse yet, it later came to light that many political figures were also part of these groups.

By the end of this chaotic time, the already dwindling human population had been cut down by a third due to these stupid decisions, religious zealotry, and the incompetence of the political leaders.

The only silver lining that emerged from this disaster was that most of the political figures and leaders had perished by the end, leaving a huge power gap that the various militaries of the world took advantage of and filled with themselves.

For a split second, it felt like things were going to become even worse as these head-strong military leaders tried to reignite old rivalries and take advantage of the chaos to get rid of their enemies.

Fortunately for humanity, the four military leaders, the General of the United States Army, Ethan Carter, the General of the Marines, Issac White, Fleet Admiral Benjamin Thornton of the Europian Union, and the General of the Indian Air Force, Aarav Patel, joined hands and suppressed these old fools, stopping them from causing further destruction and waste of time.

Ever since then, they have become the de-facto leaders of humanity and efficiently pushed the survival of the human race to the best of their abilities with what little resources they had available.

Of course, the civilians were not happy with the military taking control of their lives. However, they had no choice but to follow since their lives were not in the hands of these military people.

This discontent with military leadership had manifested in violent and non-violent incidents many different times throughout the past two decades, but they were usually suppressed very easily.

Instead of pacifying the people, this suppression only furthered their fear of the military complex.

Of course, not all people were like that. Usually, it was the older generation, those that survived WW3 that hated the military forces with unhealthy obsession while the younger generation was much more accepting of their leadership.

With the unfortunate loss of Fleet Admiral Benjamin and the last of their navy in the recent days, this situation has only helped add more stress and responsibility to the three remaining Generals.

All in all, it was a complex situation that no one wanted, but it was what it was and could not be changed due to how integral it had become to their continued survival.

Alice was brought out of her thoughts when her IAS implant sent her a ping, connecting with the Nevada Hyperloop Control Center.

“This is Nevada Control to Colonel Alice.”

“I hear you loud and clear, Nevada Control, go ahead.”

“Capsule 2284 is approaching the station in a few minutes. It carries a team of scientists and medical equipment. General Patel wants them directed to Sector 21’s holding area. They have priority Gate transport codes with them.”

“Affirmative. Corridor number?”

“Hyperloop Corridor 8.”

“Confirmed. Headed to Corridor 8 platform.”

She disconnected with the Nevada Control and connected with the local FOB.

“This is Colonel Alice, requesting a Squad for priority cargo and personnel transport to Sector 21. Forwarding access codes.”

“Access codes confirmed. Please proceed to the Corridor 8 platform while we divert a squad to your IFF.”

“Affirmative.”

Alice briskly walked through the complex, watching the various humans and machines working like clockwork to save what was left of humanity.

Massive treaded machines that had four manipulator arms swiftly unloaded the supplies from the various Hyperloop capsules before their pilots reversed course to the Himalayan bunker.

Ancient androids and combat machines from before the Android and AI ban of 2035 were pulled out of their storage to assist their masters one last time.

The military bots, created to be nearly twenty feet tall and armed to the teeth worked as sentries, looking over the humans and searching for any signs of The Corruption while civilian bots, designed to work in the factories and logistics, did their job by replacing humans in hard labor tasks, freeing up the human forces to work on the other side of the Gate. The very same efficiency that once caused them to be mothballed due to the fear of jobs being lost is now being utilized to the fullest to save their creator species.

Soon, she arrived at the platform connected to Hyperloop Corridor 8, where she found a squad made up entirely of privates, fresh recruits at that, who snapped to salute her at her arrival.

She would have normally felt displeased for being placed as the commanding officer for a squad this green. However, for an easy job like this, they would suffice.

One of the nine Privates walked forward.

“Private First Class Fred Evans, Ma’am.”

“I am Colonel Alice Bennett. I assume you are the commanding officer for this Squad?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Have you been briefed on your task for today?”

“Affirmative!”

Alice felt a little satisfaction with how professional this squad was being so far.

With her mood brightening a little bit at this little display, she decided to put some effort into looking after this squad, even if she would only be with them for a single day.

She nodded and motioned to follow her while she used her IAS to access their files to look over their scores and training performance.

To put it simply, they were average in everything with nothing special about them. Just another team of fresh recruits that were given basic training and protocol training before being thrown into the field.

As they walked further and waited for the Capsule to arrive, they heard the alert from the Hyperloop, informing them that the capsule's arrival was imminent.

With practiced ease, Alice moved back as her squad followed, allowing the platform chambers to close up and fill the vacuum with air before opening the bulkhead that sealed the Hyperloop Corridor, allowing the Hyperloop capsule to gently fall on the guiding rails, slow down, and come to a stop at the station.

At least, that is what was supposed to happen.

“Alright people, look alive-what the hell??”

Alice cut her words off abruptly as the Capsule, instead of slowing down and opening its doors, continued accelerating according to the display above the platform.

A chill ran down her spine as she realized that something was wrong.

“Run!!-“

Just as her voice rose, a thunderous crash rang out across the platform complex, attracting the attention of the Military bots and personnel while the civilians panicked and ran in random directions.

The IAS implant within Alice’s brain instantly activated its failsafe systems and controlled her body’s functions, flooding her entire being with Adrenaline to keep her conscious while it took over the extra burden placed on the brain due to the sudden strain of the body, allowing her to stay focused.

The same thing happened to the Squad that was following her as they slowly started to get up from the ground where they had been thrown when the Capsule crashed through the platform.

Within a matter of seconds, the Alive and her Squad surrounded the Capsule with a sinking feeling, waiting to see just what had happened.

And yet, what happened next would fill their hearts with terror.

From the ruined mess of the Capsule, a strange darkness slowly started to engulf the surroundings while the echoing noise of powerful steps rang out.

Within seconds, a humanoid form emerged from the capsule, and looks of horror appeared on the Squad and Alice.

“NEVADA COMMAND!! THE CORRUPTION HAS INFILTRATED THE HYPERLOOP PLATFORM!! REPEAT!! THE CORRUPTION HAS INFILTRATED THE FACILITY!! INITIATE CORRUPTION CONTINGENCY PATTERN!!”

Klaxons blared across the complex as civilians screamed in fear.

Military bots moved towards Corridor 8 as their steps caused the ground to shake while scores of military units appeared from behind the defensive structures, armed to the teeth.

All the while, Alice and her squad ran from the being who held a smile filled with madness and evil intent as his glowing crimson eyes stared at all the life around him.