“There it is!” I gasped.
Read it off to me, Karla ordered, so I obliged.
Even with the familiar phrase, the rest of the line was nothing but random letters and characters in a jumble. It meant nothing to me, but I hoped Karla and Dr. Nash would be able to figure it out.
Suddenly, a stray bullet smashed into one of the gauges on the wall and sent bits of drywall, glass, and metal into the air. I ducked down to avoid the debris, but thankfully they didn’t land anywhere near my position.
I popped back up and looked over just as Natalie blew the leg off another mutant. Then, before his friends could make a move, she blasted a hole straight through their chests.
Go, Natalie.
Alright… this should be a simple fix, the voice of Miss Nash remarked. Just follow my directions to a tee, and it should all be fine. Open up the command prompt. I believe with that vintage of computers, you just have to hit “windows” and “X” at the same time.
I hit the buttons, and a small black and white box popped up on my screen. It was completely blank, save for the blinking line of my cursor.
“Got it,” I announced. “Now what?”
Type in “restart functions,” immediately followed by a backslash and a “r.”
I did what she asked, and then the computer made a loud beeping noise.
“It’s restarted,” I noted.
Good, Karla continued. Now, type in this line of commands.
The voice in my head rattled off twenty more lines of commands. I had no idea what any of them meant or what any of them did, but I really didn’t care at this point.
I trusted Karla, and I wanted to get out of this dangerous dimension as quickly as possible.
Eventually, I finished the last line of prompts and hit enter.
All around the room, lights began to flash as monitors booted back up, and the air was filled with a mechanical whirring sound. Next, a loud siren began to blare, accompanied by a spinning red light at the center of the ceiling.
“I think—I think we did it!” I called out excitedly. “The plant is back on!”
Unfortunately, my celebration was cut short by a bullet that smashed into the monitor to my left. I ducked down under the desk, but the danger had already passed.
Don’t celebrate yet, Karla warned, we still need to sabotage this thing. Get back on the command prompt.
I sat back in the dusty black chair just as I heard another mechanical click.
“Fuck!” Natalie growled. “The shotgun’s out, too!”
The blonde Scavenger pulled her pistol out from its holster with one hand and drew her knife with the other. Then she began to fire off rounds as she charged at the incoming mutants.
My stomach turned over as I watched the woman get to work. She was a certified badass, but I didn’t know how much longer she could hold these ugly bastards off.
We had to get out of here, and quickly.
“What do I do, Karla?” I demanded.
In the command prompt, I want you to type in “withdraw function,” followed by “cooling rods” and a backslash with an “s,” she explained. Then, once that’s done, type in “Test manual controls.”
“Okay… uhhh, got it. Oh, hey, a menu popped up.”
Oh, that’s even better! Set these options: Control Rods Position—Out. Emer—
“It’s already there,” I confirmed.
Good. Just adjust these ones: Emergency Coolant Pumps— Off. Coolant Valves— Shut. Reactor Temperature— 10* C. Pressure Vessel Pressure— Zero. Radiation Meters— Override. Emergency Pressure Valves— Open.
“Okay. Those are all set.”
Now type in “Pressure Vessel Inspection Hatches: Unlock. Then you are going to type in whatever period of time you want to use as a delay.
I followed Karla’s orders, hit enter, and then typed in the delay. One week would probably be enough time for all of the Rubberfaces to get here, as well as enough time for the Scavengers to evacuate.
If they even wanted to evacuate, that is.
Finally, I took a deep breath and pressed the button.
The command prompt disappeared, and I was left with nothing but the corny desktop with all its files and folders.
“That’s it?” I questioned. “It’s all set up.”
Good, Karla noted. This will force the system to slowly fry before meltdown. Now destroy that monitor and get the fuck out of there. The reactor won’t start immediately, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it when it starts giving off radiation again.
“Natalie!” I called out to the Scavenger as I grabbed my E-Tool. “We’re all good here!”
I raised the spade up above my head and then brought it down right on top of the monitor. The screen turned shades of blue and purple as it was cracked straight down the middle, and bits of plastic flew up into the air.
When I turned back to Natalie, I saw she was currently in the process of hiding behind another desk, and she was still engaged with the Rubberfaces trying to come through the doorway. A large pile of dead bodies was scattered throughout the far side of the room, but the mutants still tried to push forward.
“This is our only way out!” Natalie cried as she fired off a few more rounds. “We can’t leave until they’re all gone!”
“That’s not true,” I announced. “We can come out the way we came in. Your rope is still dangling down, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but—” Natalie started to protest, but I cut her off.
“Do you have a better option?” I noted as I pointed at the door. “The bodies on the ground will give us enough of a head start, but we have to go now, before the reactor starts up again.”
I snatched up my pistol from the ground beside Natalie, fired a few haphazard shots at the doorway, and then motioned for the Scavenger to follow me.
Both of us ran toward the door that led to the reactor, and we only stopped to duck for cover or to return fire. Soon, we were on the other side of the room, and we slammed the door shut behind us.
“This is a terrible idea,” Natalie sighed as we began up the steps of the first level. “Just for the record.”
“Noted,” I chuckled.
The two of us got all the way up to the tenth story before we heard the door slam open below.
“Iktunar!” the mutants screamed, and then they began to fire up into the air.
Thankfully, they had no idea where we currently were, and their bullets smashed into the far wall of the structure harmlessly.
We continued our ascent until we finally reached the top. There, dangling about ten feet above us, was the rope Natalie had used to rappel down into the silo.
“I’ll give you a boost.” I nodded as I holstered my pistol and put my hands together. “Just like you did before.”
Natalie took a step back, shook her body in preparation, and then bounded straight toward me. The second her boot touched my palms, I thrust her up into the air with as much force as I could muster.
The blonde woman caught the rope in her hands and let out a victorious laugh.
Then there was the sound of cracking concrete, and the rope gave out about ten feet. The Scavenger screamed as she fell down, but thankfully the anchor didn’t give out completely.
I threw out my hand, grabbed Natalie, and pulled her back onto the platform to safety.
“Now what?” I gasped. “We’ll be lucky if that thing holds one of us without breaking, let alone both of us.”
“I-I don’t know.” Natalie sighed and hung her head. “I… I think this might be it, Hunter. I don’t have any other ideas.”