The Vladivostok Incident

Chapter 2

Nausea

Cool air found its way from the vent and out into the factory's office. It was the only reasonably circulated room in the entire building. Shelton sat comfortably in the swivel chair behind the desk. He tipped it back enough for the air to hit his face. In his lap was a textbook for his microelectromechanical systems class and on the desk was a quality check report he was supposed to read over. Neither one seemed very interesting at the moment. Andrei wouldn't appreciate Shelton studying during work hours, but there was an exam scheduled that very night that Shelton couldn't fail. Of course, the last time he failed it wasn't because he didn't know the answers, he just fell asleep part way through. How many years had he been chasing that elusive degree now? Eight years?

Despite the fact that Shelton was angry about his broken arm, he was happy to be off the floor. "You're useless with two arms, I can't imagine what you'll get done with one," Andrei had told him. Instead he got stuck reading over reports, most of which Andrei did on his own time. Reading over reports was no more exciting than studying, so Shelton entertained himself by kicking a flat soccer ball around or throwing pens at rats. The flat soccer ball was a lucky find just outside the factory that morning and was a pain to get Okayed by Andrei.

Grayish brown swept by on the floor not two feet away from Shelton. He grabbed the heavy textbook and hurled it towards the offending animal. Timed perfectly, the book smashed onto the half pound rodent. Shelton was shocked he managed to hit it. Cautiously, he rose from the chair and crept up to the flat rat. Afraid if he lifted the book it would scurry away, he simply eyed it closely.

"What are you doing?" Andrei asked. Shelton jumped up from his position on the floor at the sound of his manager's voice. Somehow Shelton had failed to hear Andrei enter the office.

"I caught a rat," Shelton flatly answered as he pointed at the book.

"A rat?" questioned another's voice. Antanas popped his head around the taller Andrei and surveyed the room. "You need to do something about that. They could damage the machinery."

Shelton picked up the book and peered under it only to have the rat scurry away. The three men watched as it hustled its way straight up the wall and through a hole in the ceiling. Andrei yanked the book out of Shelton's hand when he was preoccupied with the rat and lectured, "Come on, Shelton. You know I support your schoolwork, but can you please do it on your own time?" He moved past the crouched boy and took the seat behind the desk. "Mr. Fedorov and I have some matters to discuss. There's a new shipment of tools that's just come in. Why don't you go help the driver out?"

Antanas and Shelton passed a look between each other. The bureaucrat smiled reassuringly at him; surely, he must have been a physic, because Shelton was positive they were going to discuss the previous day's accident. Shelton just muttered, "Alright," and made his way towards the factory floor.

The catwalk where he slipped the previous day was still a heap of twisted metal. Petras had managed to get the crane in fairly good shape and had spent the entire morning making sure it still worked properly. The trip towards the cargo bay was short compared to most other journeys throughout the factory. Typically an attempt to get towards certain areas was a maze. Whoever designed the layout hadn't thought about the necessity to move from room to room. Instead, from the main floor to the cargo bay was one hallway straight to and from, with one door leading to the dock.

Sunlight from outside blinded him for a moment. The large garage door was opened and the truck was already parked and waiting. The loading ramp was already out and the trailer was open. A quick peek inside showed a small young man trying to move several heavy boxes by himself. Shelton didn't recognize the boy, so he ignored him and made his way around the truck.

The driver, Viktor, spotted Shelton approach in his mirror. He leaned out the window and greeted, "Hey, Shelton!" Shelton saw the familiar, skinny faced driver with an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth and smiled. He leapt onto the step and held on to the door with his uninjured hand. "Eh? What happened to your arm?"

"Busted it on the job," Shelton answered. "I heard you got some tools for us."

"Free from His Majesty," Viktor said, in reference to Antanas. Like most others in Eurasia, he was employed by ZL Industries, and although Viktor didn't work in the factory, it was one of his regular stops. Viktor had first started making rounds there close to ten years ago, so he and Shelton learned the ropes of ZL Industries together.

"Who's the kid in the back?" Shelton asked.

"That little bastard? I caught him at Barnaul sneaking around the garage. He claimed he was just finding a warm place to sleep but I knew better. I couldn't just leave the poor kid out in the snow so I asked if he wanted to tag alone," explained Viktor.

"It's snowing in Barnaul?"

"Oh, yeah," Viktor said with a nod. "Weather isn't too kind, despite it only being October." Something in his passenger side mirror caught his eye and he spotted Liza entering the cargo bay. "Look who's come to join us! Got a date with her yet?"

"I've had terrible luck," Shelton admitted with a defeated smile.

"You've been trying for three years now."

"Yeah, but I don't really like her," Shelton whispered. "She's kind of a bossy b***h. I just think she's cute."

Viktor rubbed his hand across his stubble covered chin. "I bet you a beer I can get her in one try," he said. Before Shelton could answer he spotted her across the cab. She jumped up and mimicked his actions by holding onto the door. Her blonde head leaned inside the cab a little bit and she smiled at the two men.

"Long time no see, Viktor," she greeted.

"No kidding, Liza," he said back. "I'm a few days ahead of schedule so I won't be leaving Tynda for a while. What do you say we spend some of that time catching up?"

"Sounds great! I have tickets to a cricket game, we could go."

"Sure thing," Viktor smiled warmly. He held the smile as she disappeared to go see if she could help unload. Once she was out of earshot his smile turned into a triumphant grin when he turned to face Shelton. "Too easy! But what the hell is cricket?"

"A waste of time."

"Nah you're just jealous," Viktor laughed. He smashed his hand onto Shelton's head and ruffled up his brown hair. Since his only uninjured arm was keeping him balance, Shelton couldn't fight back. Viktor noticed this and cursed, "Damn, how are you supposed to unload my truck? That brat can't do it." He proceeded to honk his horn once and shout, "Caesar!" Then his smiled came back and he continued chatting with Shelton. "It may be snowing in Barnaul, but everything west of Saint Petersburg is complete hell. I told everyone a union this size wouldn't last past my thirty-fifth birthday and what do you know? Civil war's back again."

"You called, sir?" a young voice asked from behind Shelton. He looked over his shoulder to see a boy in shoddy cotton pants and matching shirt. His face was sickly pale and under his eyes were the darkest shadows Shelton had ever seen.

"Uh, yeah, look kid why don't you take the statement to old man Andrei? This is my buddy Shelton, he'll help you out," instructed Viktor.

The trip back the office was a little awkward for Shelton. Caesar, the boy, kept to himself. Typically, he would be five to ten paces back, so Shelton had to stop frequently so he would catch up. Yet many times after Shelton halted the boy did, too. It made Shelton uneasy. His plan was to drop the kid off outside the office and disappear to the cargo bay again, simply so he could avoid Andrei handing him another task. The way Caesar acted made him wonder if he should keep his eye on him, just in case. In the end he decided to follow Caesar straight into the office, even if it meant he got another task shoved onto him.

He strode into the office with the boy behind him. Andrei hadn't left his desk yet and Antanas peered out the window towards the factory floor absentmindedly. The bureaucrat was the first to notice them; he made eye contact with the boy and smiled before turning his attention to Shelton. "I hope you put those tools to good use," Antanas said.

Andrei looked up from his desk when heard Antanas speak. With a grunt he rose from the swivel chair and approached Shelton. Caesar backed away, which caused Andrei to eye him with a confused expression. "I'd like to see the invoice, if you don't mind," Andrei finally said. Shelton pointed to Caesar. Andrei raised his brow and glanced back at the kid. He couldn't have been older than fifteen. In an attempt to calm him, Andrei raised his hand to pat the boy on the head. Instead of a positive response, the boy winced before Andrei's hand was near him. The older man froze for a moment, and he resorted to scratching the back of his own neck in confusion. "Why is this kid here?" he asked Shelton.

"Don't ask me," Shelton said. "Viktor picked him up in Barnaul."

"What a pain," Andrei muttered. He sighed and then smiled at Caesar. "Can you hand me the folder Viktor gave you?" Caesar c****d his head to side, as if he didn't understand. Andrei sighed and asked, "What language does he speak?"

When Shelton shrugged, Caesar looked between him and Andrei. Shelton didn't look like a nice man; the way he placed his hands on his hips, squared off his shoulders and puffed out his chest made him seem arrogant. A half smile graced his lips, which resulted in a small dimple on his otherwise smooth cheek. Atop his head was an unkempt mess of brown hair, his jaw squared off his face and made him look like a jerk. Andrei, meanwhile, had his lighter, shorter hair whisked to the side and within in his green eyes was a glint of familiarity. He stood calm and comfortable with himself. To Caesar, Andrei looked like a teddy bear. So Caesar shoved the invoice into Andrei's hand, but never made eye contact. Andrei thanked him with a smile before he returned to his desk.

Just as Andrei sat down in his coveted swivel chair a thunderous crash echoed from the factory floor. Everyone in the office froze. Not a second later the screeching metal and screams signaled Petras must have caused another accident. Andrei was out of the office before his bottom made full contact with the chair, cursing all the way. Antanas looked out the window and only saw a three workers coming their way. Andrei was pushed back inside. Petras and two other workers, Nikon and Denis, slammed the door shut.

"What are you doing? What's happened?" Andrei asked, trying to remain calm. Petras pushed him away from the door, locked it, and began to guard it.

Denis went straight for the exit door. He swung it open to reveal the outside world. What happened next went by so fast that no one had time to think. The door was open for about two seconds when a string of pops came from outside. Denis twisted and reeled with each sound until he feel backwards – shot full of holes. To say everyone panicked wouldn't be far from the truth. Nikon slammed the door shut right away and locked it; Petras let out a little squeal; Shelton felt his heart stop for a moment; and Antanas's knees gave away and he ended up sitting under the observation window. Andrei, perhaps the calmest of everyone, pushed the emergency button. A short delay later, an alarm flooded every corner of the factory.

Andrei grabbed Petras by the collar and shouted, "What the hell is going on?!"

"I-I have no idea!" the younger man shouted back.

Orange flashed by the window and Shelton looked out to see Liza coming towards them. Since Petras was being yelled at by Andrei the door wasn't being guarded. Shelton slipped out. For the first time he could hear the noises that reverberated from other places in the factory. All he heard were shouts and screams. There were many emergency exits, which meant that while the workers could escape easily, the enemy could enter easily. Shelton met Liza about five steps away from the office. Panicked, she bumped into him. He used his left arm to grab her. She froze at the contact. Shelton gazed down at her to find her face covered in tears – and blood.

"What happened?" he asked as he tried to pull her towards the office. His mind tried to comprehend the situation. Denis has been shot, so obviously they were under attack. Why would she be running towards the office if the cargo bay was a quick exit? They must have already been surrounded.

From behind Liza he spotted Viktor sprinting towards them. He carried in his hand a large pry bar. He, too, had blood on him; only, for Viktor, it was his blood. Before Shelton could ask what happened, Viktor pushed him and said, "Go."

"Go where?! There's armed men outside!" Shelton protested. Viktor used the bar to push them back again.

"Get out of here!" Viktor shouted again. He went to push again and Liza moved, which resulted in the pry bar hitting Shelton in his sore arm. With his left hand, he began to push back against Viktor. The wound that Viktor had opened a little more with each push. Shelton couldn't see where it was, but it was clearly deep, as a pool of blood began to form. "God dammit, Shelton," he cursed as he pulled the pry bar away. "Go!"

"Why?"

"Just go you stupid c**k!"

Viktor swung the pry bar harshly at Shelton who in turn stumbled back to avoid getting hit. After he landed on his back, he went to curse at the injured driver but was silenced by a screeching sound from above. All eyes went to the broken catwalk where something went tumbling down towards them. It crashed not three feet away from Viktor's back. To Shelton, it was just a pile of metal slightly taller than he was. It stirred a bit, Viktor was quick, luckily, and struck the heap of metal with the bar several times. Then it thrashed. Shelton, already startled and confused, panicked. This time, when Viktor told him to leave, there was no hesitation.

He scrambled to his feet and grabbed Liza. She screamed for Viktor to follow; he didn't. Shelton noticed the resistance she was giving and pulled harder. A quick glance over his shoulder showed him what all the commotion was about. Another worker had come from one of the hallways and also carried with him a bar. He acted merely as a small distraction, when the heap of metal moved again and reached out to severe the man completely in half. That was enough for Shelton. It was time to run for mother-loving life.

Andrei opened the office door when he noticed Shelton scurrying towards them with Liza. Shelton had tunnel vision. All he could see, all that mattered to him at that moment, was getting away from the living metal. Liza came second, Viktor was as good as dead – all that mattered was getting to safety so he could regain his thoughts and his humanity. The moment he reached the doorway and his foot took a step inside a bit of sanity came back to him. His ears began to pick up the noises around him. Liza was screaming her lungs out, shouting Viktor's name; the metal was screeching across the concrete floor like nail on a chalk board; Andrei was silent but his breath was heavy; Petras was shouting for Liza and Shelton to get in so they could close the door.

Suddenly the resistance Liza was giving disappeared. Momentum tossed Shelton to the ground and he landed face first against the floor. The door was slammed shut and the screams continued. Odd, he thought. Her hand was still holding his, so where did the weight go? He looked towards his left arm, where he expected Liza to be. He thought for sure she had simply thrown herself forward, and she would be lying next to him. Instead, all he saw was a severed arm. Freaked out, he tossed it aside and turned away.

"Dude you almost died!" Petras shouted.

"Are you alright?" Andrei calmly asked. He extended a hand, which Shelton accepted. Shelton's heart was racing. His vision was slowly coming back after the shock. Now on his feet, he shook his head and tried to understand what was going on. He couldn't. "What the hell was that thing?"

"I have no freakin' idea," Shelton answered, his fear obvious in his voice. His brain had yet to register the full extent of what was happening. All he knew was that his heart needed to slow before he had a heart attack, and his pores needed to stop sweating before he became dehydrated.

"Well…" Antanas started uneasily from his spot on the floor. "It seems like everything has calmed down."

"Because everyone's dead," Shelton commented. Both he and Antanas braved a look out the observation window. Right at the entrance of the door was the remains of the cute Liza; her arm was severed and her torso had a large gash. From the gash blood flowed, and to the disgust of the two men, the white of the ribcage and the pink of the organs. Where Viktor was last scene was nothing more than a dismantled corpse, with few visible details from their window.

"What are we going to do?" Nikon asked. Everyone stopped. Their breathing seemed to slow so they could think. Shelton still wasn't calmed down enough to think much of anything. Adrenaline, for the most part, had made everything seem too unreal.

Tck.

That was the sound Nikon's skull made when a small intruder fell from the hole in the ceiling and made his head its home. Instant death was the result; continued panic for the rest followed. Its sharp legs sliced straight through the bone and brain. It couldn't get a grip on Nikon's head and ended up slipping and falling onto the ground. No matter to it, because Nikon's head was severed in half. Next was its nearest enemy: Petras. Shelton had a chance to snatch it from behind, so the tennis ball sized intruder was batted away. It merely landed on the wall and sat for a moment before its tiny hydraulic legs sent it flying towards Shelton. He ducked his head out of the way on instinct, and the little attacker latched onto his broken arm.

It got caught in the makeshift splint and tried to free itself. Shelton grabbed it from its "top" and threw it across the room again. This time, the moment it bounced, several gunshots were fired. The first couple missed as it scampered to avoid the bullets, but when it jumped again, it was hit dead on. It fell to the ground and remained motionless. Caesar and Andrei knelt next to it and cautiously examined the remains.

Petras was leaning over in the corner, lurching his lunch. Clearly, the brain matter that was ejected from Nikon's skull and subsequently landed on Petras's face wasn't too pleasant. "Are you alright?" Shelton asked.

"I'm fine," he managed to answer. "You have shitty aim!" he complained to Antanas, the man with the gun. Apparently the fear and guts hadn't completely washed away Petras's personality.

"It's not every day I shoot at – at… arachnid bots!"

"Actually, it's not an arachnid," corrected Shelton. He knelt next to the mini robot to make sure he was right. "It's only got four legs."

"Don't you know that?" Petras shot at Antanas.

"Those were not designed or built by ZL!"

Shelton had been injured badly. Blood completely covered his right arm. He hadn't noticed because the adrenaline was acting as a pain killer. In fact, he never would have noticed if Andrei didn't shout, "Are you alright?! Dear God!" This caused Shelton to notice the tingling in his arm. When he looked, the pain became evident. Several deep cuts were along his arm where the robot tried to escape. The blood was already accumulating and producing neat lines down towards his fingertips.

Caesar acted quickly. He had already located the first aid kit and brought it down. Shelton wanted to thank him, but was cut off when Antanas asked, "Okay Mister Robot Scientist, what do we do about these things?"

Shelton tried to speak through the pain. "Since they're robots, they have a single purpose they have to carry out. Obviously it's to kill anything here. Why? I don't know. I do know that they have a way to sense us and understand once we've been killed. Clearly they can't compute things through inanimate objects, because in case you haven't noticed they haven't spotted us yet."

"The little bastard did," Petras said, now finished vomiting. He pushed Caesar aside and took commanded of patching up Shelton. Thanks to having so many little brothers and sisters, Petras was an expert at first aid.

"Because of the hole in the ceiling," Andrei concluded. He looked around for something to shove into the hole – anything. Under his desk he found the flat soccer ball, and he placed it in the hole to find it a perfect fit.

"Ah, man," Petras moaned, holding his stomach. "It smells in here." Shelton became aware of the think atmosphere after that statement. Everyone was sweating uncontrollably, as well as panting like dogs. It was a small office, with only the one vent for circulation. Plus, the bodies, blood, vomit, and guts made everyone seem claustrophobic.

"We have to get out of here," Antanas stated. Shelton looked over at him. For a bureaucrat, he was rather calm. Surprisingly, everyone had managed to keep their wits about them – at least on the outside. If Shelton could read Antanas's thoughts, he would find them a rush of curse words and prayers. Remaining calm was merely the work of an actor.

"How are we supposed to do that?"

No one had the chance to answer the question. The exit door was broken down and soon the room was flooded with troopers. Shock hit everyone; Antanas was the first to react by immediately throwing his hands in the air. Shelton and Petras were completely knocked over by one man, who without warning pressed their faces into the ground. When the troopers went to open the factory floor door, everyone in the room voiced their concerns.

"Don't open that door!" (Shelton)

"You f*****g idiots!" (Petras)

"Don't!" (Andrei)

"Ah…" (Antanas)

They went dead quiet when a man boomed, "Silence!" There were then ripped from the ground they had been pushed on. One by one, each of the living in the office were pulled outside. Shelton groaned when his arm was grasped violently but managed to bite his tongue. He saw no point in surviving all that only to be shot for complaining. As he was escorted away from the factory, he nearly tripped over a body. He made a brief glance down to catch a small bit of red and gold – the Chinese. He then looked at the man in front of him, expecting it to be an armed guard from the Republic of Eurasia. There was no insignia. The trooper was clad only in street camo and refused to make eye contact. The only thing he said was, "Get in," as he shoved Shelton into an armored vehicle.

Shelton peered out the window. Nausea hit his stomach as he recalled what happened. What was once a bad week was now a terrible nightmare.