Fleshers by Alison Croggon

Author:Alison Croggon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dystopian, lgbtqi, post-apocalytpic, action and adventure, cyberpunk, genetic engineering, strong female lead, queer romance, rebellion, clones
Publisher: Newport Street Books
Published: 2018-05-27T00:00:00+00:00

Bo

The storm hit just before dawn.

First the wind, growing steadily louder, howling and groaning around the building, shaking the walls. It woke everyone up. The sky filled with massive clouds that seemed to be on fire, rolling and boiling, collapsing and suddenly expanding. And then the rain, black rain, sheets of it. It ran down the glass ceiling in thick ripples.

Somewhere inside the building a siren began to wail, but the wind had grown so loud now that you could barely hear it. The lights in the room came on, flickered for a moment, then went out. The black rain grew heavier, pounding on the ceiling. It was thicker now, rolling slowly down the glass, pierced by shafts of red light from the burning clouds.

The door flew open and a dozen goons rushed in, carrying lights, prods and tasers. Outside, the storm was growing in intensity. It sounded as if any minute the whole structure would be torn out of the ground.

All I could feel was naked fear. Black rain. No Veil. We were all going to die.

The goons herded us out, pushing us through rooms and corridors until we reached a narrow flight of steps. At the bottom of the steps was a steel door, opening onto a dark tunnel. Inside it was pitch black. I’d lost sight of Mish and Rioka. I tried to look around for them, but in the crush at the bottom of the stairs I could hardly move. Nobody wanted to enter the tunnel, but the goons switched on their tasers, so we went through the door, one at a time. It was so low that we had to stoop almost double to get inside. Then they slammed the door shut behind us, leaving us in total darkness.

They only thing we could do was move on. There was no way back. We shuffled in single file, feeling our way in the darkness. The person in front of me tripped and fell, and I fell over the top of him. Someone fell on top of me. We clawed our way out of the tangle and kept moving.

After a few minutes, someone at the front started yelling. ‘Stop, stop!’ Her voice boomed inside the confined space. We all halted, wondering what was happening. After a while, there was a hollow pounding. A door? Yes, the whisper came back along the line. There was a door. A way out.

The pounding stopped. No response. It started up again. We waited, crammed together, our chests heaving, not speaking, just waiting. And then a click, the squeak of hinges. Light.

For a moment, none of us moved.

‘Come in you lot, stop mucking about.’ It was Steady.

We tumbled out onto the floor, gasping, a few of us laughing, someone sobbing. It was some kind of safety pod. There were breather units on shelves, bunks set into the walls, a long metal table and stools, canisters of water. Pace was beside Steady, looking down at us, hands on his hips.

‘We just got here ourselves,’ he said.

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